Senses
by TennenPerm
Summary: Instead of a face, it was adorned with an animated mask. Anbu, was Shikamaru's first thought. Four encounters, and not once he got the chance to see what was behind that mask.
1. Hearing your voice

I came up with a new story! I have a big crush on this Nara guy and always wanted to write a story with Shikamaru. Since i CANNOT bear to see Shikamaru with anyone, i decided to create my own OC for him! Such possessive fangirl I am... *facepalming on my own immaturity*

Disclaimer: Naruto was never mine nor it will be. It's Kishimoto's. Except for the characters that you don't recognize from Naruto-verse are mine creation.

* * *

Life after the fourth Shinobi war….is not as peaceful as everybody think it would be. Of course the real threat 'Madara' and hell of new emerging characters from legends were eliminated by none other than Naruto and Sasuke. That was what written in the final report collected from various Shinobis spread out at the entire war zone.

The Shinobi alliance still continued to work after the war. In a way, one can say that peace and harmony has descended upon the five elemental countries. There was no effete tension or strenuous relationships between the hidden villages or the countries. Civilians were looking forward to the peace treaties and new forming organization under the same name, whose motto was continue this peaceful time and to prevent any remote possibility of another war.

The end of the fourth war marked an important point in all of the lives. It was hard, but not impossible to reconstruct the daily lives of civilians and Shinobis. Everybody helped. For the first time, there was no boundaries called Konohagakure, Kumogakure, or Amegakure, etc. the life toll resultant of the war had spread all over. It look a while but eventually everybody did stood up on their feet. But the evil never stops just because somebody is struggling to set up their lives back on the wheels. Many petty thieves, robbers, and in some cases assassins, struck upon the given chance of haywire lives. It was these ever growing number of cases and not the 'Madara' big case, will I count under tedious and ever irksome part of my job.

Hence, and I'll again say, Life after fourth Shinobi war is not as peaceful as everybody think it would be.

The same office. Hokage's. The shinobi in the typical green vest stood in front of the desk full of papers, files and what nots. Somewhere behind it, was the Fifth Hokage, going through the recent delivered report by the present young man. The tired creases due to all the extra working hours was evident on her forehead.

"…"

"You know what, I'll finish it later." Tsunade said as she quickly flipped the pages till the end and cast it away. The dark bags under her eyes clearly showed how much she was tired. With an exasperated sigh and rubbing her hands over her face to wipe off any creeping sleep and tiredness, she said, "Why don't you go ahead and take a day off. After that mission, a break is much needed. You did a good work, Shikamaru."

Shikamaru sighed at the sound of a 'break'. A sigh of relief. It had been long since he had a 'me' time, a relaxing midday with nothing to do but watch the clouds go by. He definitely needed this break.

"A day off, not bad."

With a poof of smoke, a shadow appeared beside Shikamaru, drawing both of their attention from their conversation straight away. As the smoke thinned, it revealed a human silhouette, kneeled at one knee as one hand placed lightly on the floor beside and the other clutching a scroll. Instead of a face, it was adorned with an animated mask. Anbu, was Shikamaru's first thought.

"Hokage sama."

The voice ringed like a clear, piercing sound. It had the confidence with respect directed toward the current Hokage. The voice made an impact on the genius young man. He couldn't help but notice the appearance of the Anbu in front. Though it hardly gave away any subtleties. It was the standard Anbu mask, the standard Anbu armor, with a finish of Tanto at the back. He also couldn't help but notice a deep long gash along the length of her arm, old enough to be seen the redness of it with the naked eye.

"Ah… yes. The situation…" Tsunade murmured.

Reading the situation, Shikamaru said nothing but bowed slightly and receded. He knew very well when a situation demands secrecy. As he opened the door to walk out he left a comment proceeding their half-finished conversation.

"You should take that advice of your's too. It seems you are in much need of a break than me."

Tsunade gave away a tired smirk at him as he walked out of the visible frame. "Sure. Wanna take my place and work while I rest?"

Many days passed. The incident soon became an interesting memory for him even though still, sometimes, he finds himself remembering that moment when he heard her voice.

 _'_ _What is the probability that I might have seen her face in this village at least one time without me noticing it?'_

 _'_ _Taking into consideration the number of Shinobi and their mission colliding with each other, I'd say next to none.'_

 _'_ _Plus, I'm not that social to be meeting with new people every now and then. No, that would be a drag. It would be one hell of a coincidence if I had ever came face to face with her.'_

The current mission had kept him busy for a long stretch of time. Visiting the fire country palace and interacting with pretentious noble men was too much of energy consuming task even for regular people let alone Shikamaru. Even though he had done this 'business trip' a few times before, he still hadn't got used to all the opulent style of living. It was a whole of three day journey for his team to finally reach their village, Konohagakure, from the palace. A sigh escaped through Shikamaru's mouth as he continued leaping toward his destination through the thick forest. Ah, what wouldn't he give to have a lazy afternoon alongside a cup of hot tea?

Just the image of small home comfort made his steps to go faster. The sudden increase in speed at the last day of their return journey, made the other members of his team exchange looks of confusion.

"Its strange to see Nara sempai this enthuse even after almost three days of journey." Inoue Hisagi murmured to his fellow teammate, Nagisa, with a look of admiration and respect toward their team leader.

"…I'm pretty sure he just want this mission to be over as soon as possible." She said, quite confidently. "If he was a part of this conversation, he would be saying, _'What a drag.'_ right about now." And mimicked an uncanny expression of him.

"but believe me, even after expressing his bothersome demeanor, he brings finesse to his every mission."

"If you have finished mimicking me, could you step up your speed. We are almost there." Shikamaru's voice made them jolt up with surprise. _'When did he receded the gap between us?!'_

Nagisa rolled her eyes, "You are only saying this because somehow you are motivated to reach the village as soon as possi–"

"Oh! Look, we are already here!" Hisagi motioned toward the large entry gates of Konoha, peeking from the slight gaps between the foliage.

As soon as they crossed the threshold, the team relaxed and slowed their pace.

"Home sweet home…" Hisagi sighed as he slowly stretched his muscly arms above his head with a loud yawn.

"Every time…" Nagisa shook her head. "Is this environment _that_ sleep inducing to you? Just a moment ago you were so up and about. Either way, we still have report to deliver to Hokage sama."

Hisagi pouted, showing his disappointment but Shikamaru cut him off before he had a chance to show his antics. "There is no point in going together." He took a deep sigh. "It's team leader's duty to deliver the report to Hokage. You two go and have rest. It's been a long mission."

Ambling down the familiar roads of Konoha, Shikamaru took his own time to reach the Hokage's office. _'We are almost on time with the mission, there is no need to rush in for the report.'_

Not long after, he recognized his former team 10, coming towards him. Gesturing a small wave of his hand for acknowledgement, he greeted them.

"Shikamaru!"

"When did you return back from the mission?"

"Just now. Making my way towards Hokage for the report. What about you two?" He answered.

"We were heading towards a common direction. Dad wants my assistance and Ino…she was called in the interrogation office for some…" Chouji looked towards Ino to complete the information. "I have some data to go flip through." She waved non-importantly. Shikamaru nodded in understanding.

"Why don't we meet at evening for dinner! It will be like old days. It's been quite some time since we got together and had a laugh." Chouji suggested, while he laughed sheepishly.

Chouji was right. These days, with all the workload, they rarely get any time to spend together. "Yeah. Sounds good." Shikamaru agreed.

"Great! We'll meet at our regular place." Promising to meet later, they went their own directions. Shikamaru reached the main office building and headed up for the meeting with the Hokage. He was about to reach the office, he heard 'the voice' again.

Hearing the same voice once again, even though distant, made him somehow excited. He keenly reached out and knocked on the Hokage's door two times and pushed it open. Much to his disappointment, he was only able to catch a glimpse of black hair with the same silhouette fading into a poof of smoke.

 _'_ _Damn. Missed it by seconds.'_

* * *

Tell me, how did you like it so far?!


	2. Shikamaru's investigation

_Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine nor is Shikamaru. But i wont accept it. I will not let Temari have him. Never. *evil laugh*_

* * *

"The mission was a success." Shikamaru reported in, handing her the official scrolls. "Although, the nobles did take an awful amount of time to prepare the statistics document even when we informed them prior of our visit."

"Hmm… Any complications?" Tsunade said as she scanned through the scroll.

"No. Even the survey reports are included in this."

"Fine." She said while closing the scroll shut one more time. "That's it for now. You are dismissed until further notice."

The day for Shikamaru went exactly like he imagined it to be. He spent the whole day watching clouds go by while he laid back on the soft green grass. It was his favorite spot for relaxing after every mission. The spot was ideal for him- it was secluded from the main crowd and had the perfect shade and breeze for an afternoon nap. Here, nobody would disturb him unless it was an emergency. This was an unsaid rule and everybody who knew him was aware of it.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

 _'_ _So she has black hair. I didn't noticed that last time.'_

His eyes jerked open with her thoughts reigning on his mind. Upon realizing that the first thing he thought after closing his eyes was some unknown Anbu person, he sighed. _'So… that person is back on my mind, huh.'_ He thought, his eyes fixated on the only cloud above him.

* * *

"Talk about a quiet dinner…" Shikamaru mumbled as he looked around the table of team 10's favorite food joint. He was surprised as well as shocked to see the crowd of his friends currently sitting around the table, devouring the food.

"When did our three person dinner transformed into a feast for seven person?"

"It happened all of a sudden, actually." Chouji informed him as he swiftly snatched a piece of meat from the grill into his mouth. "I invited Lee and Tenten as they too were headed this way…" snatching another piece of meat, "Ino brought Sai and…" and another piece of meat, "Kiba and Shino just tagged along."

On hearing the explanation Shikamaru couldn't help be sigh at the situation that had gathered his friends at one place as a faint smile crept on his face. Without any delay he too started chowing his share of food.

"So, Naruto and Sakura haven't come back from their mission, eh?"

"Sakura did. I met her this morning. She is working late shifts with the medic researchers."

"Man… everybody is so busy these days. I rarely get to see you guys!"

"Don't worry! The flame of youth inside all of us will always connect us no matter where we are!"

"Wait…what?"

"This is too delicious. I'm ordering another round."

Everybody was enjoying their free time, chatting and catching up what they had missed in their friends' lives when suddenly Shikamaru stood up from his seat. Everybody quieted down to enquire the reason behind his action. He didn't realized it but he had a very serious expression on his face. Seeing everybody's questioning looks, he quickly added, "I'll be back in a minute." And bolted out of the booth.

"What happened to him?"

"Went to pee, I think."

 _'_ _I definitely heard it right.'_ He looked around the aisle between the booths. _'and I heard it real close. It's her voice! Here, in this restaurant!'_ He kept looking at every booth near their's, feeling too curious to feel embarrassed by the glares of the users. Excitement built up somewhere inside his chest as he made his way toward the entry/exit of the restaurant. _'public space… meaning no Anbu mask…maybe this time…'_

Dreading of losing his only chance to find out about the person behind the mask, he quickened his pace toward the front of the restaurant, eliminating the possible contenders on his way by the only clue he had, 'her black hair'. As he made it to the reception area, he saw a figure by the restaurant owner, exiting the building. Barely getting a peek of the black tresses and a hint of a fabric, he immediately concluded:

 _'_ _That's got to be her!'_

He rushed ahead to the exit only to get disappointed. He was late by just one moment or two. There was no one present at the front door except for the owner. He scanned the road up and down but saw no one resembling her description. Only a scent of night mist lingered at the vicinity.

"You want something?"

"Umm… yeah. The person who was with you just a while ago, where did she go?" Shikamaru asked, even though he knew the answer of it.

"Hah? You know Tsu chan? Are you a friend of hers?" the owner beamed at him. "She just left. She disappeared right in front of me! I don't know why she keeps doing that–"

 _'_ _Tsu chan? Her name? More importantly, this guy knows her?'_

" –never met any of her friends before, even though I've taken care–"

"It's alright. Sorry for bothering you." He smiled and excused himself from a misleading one sided conversation.

"No problem. Any friend of Tsu chan is a friend of mine!"

The dinner went uneventfully for Shikamaru, after the sudden dose of excitement at the restaurant. However, that little excitement made him distracted from almost all the conversations going around him. His mind kept repeating the words of the restaurant owner.

 _'_ _Tsu chan. Her name is Tsu- something.'_

 _'_ _Even if I search for her in the leaf database, what chances are there for me to succeed? ...This is too less of an information. I don't even know her full name… ugh, I'm becoming obsessive...'_

* * *

The near face-to-face incident with the Anbu girl did nothing but raising up the curiosity level of Shikamaru. And it was really becoming annoying to him. The one thing Shikamaru doesn't like having in his life is to be curious- it makes people restless, makes them go lengths to satiate their curiosity, disturbs their peaceful life, and it is one hell of a drag. This problem of his had nagged him all night long and continued to do so in rest of his free days. He wanted to quench his thirst for curiosity but to search in the ninja database with just a small clue of half of her name is beyond him. This whole oddity was already becoming a drag, and he was not ready to give up and let it consume him till the state of paranoia. However, he did took the free chances to find out about her while being subtle about it.

"…and thanks for helping me out in this work, Shikamaru. Almost everyone excused themselves out of this problem and I'm stuck with it." Yamato said as he and Shikamaru headed toward the daily patrol routes.

"Ah… no need to thank me. I had to comply since it came as an order from higher up." Shikamaru replied. But even with the reply, Yamato's good mood didn't got affected. It was time to take advantage of this light mood.

"Say…Yamato san, are you frequent to this patrolling duty?"

"Almost. If the appointed Jounins are not available for some reason, I get to fill up the spot."

"Oh… didn't you used to work in Anbu before? Why not rejoin it?"

Yamato chuckled but did not answered the question. "You interested in Anbu?"

But Shikamaru replied with a question. "Do they have ninjas my age?"

"Of course they do. There is no age nor gender difference in the ranks of Anbu. I've even worked with ninjas of your age." Yamato agreed. "You'll be surprised to see such young recruits doing flawless works…"

 _'_ _My age? Yamato san might be talking about her. The way the restaurant owner talked about her, I think she is probably close to my age and now that Yamato san confirms it, it greatly reduces the search to a limited area...but I really doubt I remember anyone called Tsu-something from our academy days.'_

He was pretty sure that he had not came across any 'Tsu-something' girl in his batch in academy; he crosschecked it with Ino. Since he became Chuunin soon after graduation, he had access to the batches junior to him and he knew that the two girl's name starting with Tsu was only chunnin at the present time. That left the batches senior to him. This was simple enough, he thought. He just had to go up to Rock Lee and ask a simple question.

"Starting with Tsu?" Lee enquired again. "I don't think we had someone with that name in our batch. Why do you ask?"

"Just going through some…stuff." Shikamaru replied nonchalantly.

"Oh…" Lee, still thinking hard. "but are you sure she is in our batch? I mean… other than that, I did knew a girl with the same abbreviation but was a batch higher than us. Actually, she was my classmate but then I failed to become a genin that year so she graduated before me."

A feeling of elation born inside Shikamaru as he finally saw the coming result of his search. Finally, with this, I could rest in peace, he thought.

"… I think her name was Tsukuyo."

 _'_ _You think?'_

"Pardon me that I couldn't provide you with solid lead for your investigation." Lee said earnestly. "If need anything other than that, feel free to contact me. I'll help with whatever I can."

"…Its okay. I'll work something out. Thanks anyway."

* * *

I can't express how much elated i feel when i see that my story is being read by someone, somewhere in the world! It feels so good to know that your story had peeked interest inside someone and wants to read it further!


	3. Failed mission

_Disclaimer: Naruto is written and drawn by Kishimoto Mashashi. I'm only borrowing his characters for my own benefit! *I'm selfish... Shell fish?...*_

* * *

With an occasional rustle of dry leaves, a shadow of a man coursed through the forest of the fire country. Contrary to what his occupation was, he had the most vibrant personality, his hair included. In the whole history of Konoha, he was probably the only one who was made a Jounin directly after being a Genin. He was the hero of the fourth Shinobi war, Uzumaki Naruto.

Not far behind, another figure moved along the same route, Hyuuga Hinata's. They continued to move toward Konoha after their week long mission in Kumogakure. Deadly tired due to the continuous journey from one hidden village to another, even the ever jovial Naruto was worn out. The only thing that kept his legs moving was the thought of delicious ramen that he will treat himself after the completion of the mission. However, God had other things planned for the tired duo.

"Naruto kun!" Hinata called Naruto as she upped her pace to fall beside him.

"What happened, Hinata chan?" Naruto replied, alarmed by hearing the sudden urgency in her voice.

"Naruto kun, I can see some signs of fresh fight somewhere north from here. It seems civilians were somehow involved."

"Where?" His head automatically turned north, hoping to find the signs that Hinata told him, right there.

"You can't see it from here, Naruto kun…" a little blush covered her face as she corrected him. It was then he realized that Hinata had activated Byakugan and was referring to it for the information.

"Oh…" he laughed sheepishly at himself before continuing on, "…anyway, if what you say is true then we should go and help those civilians." Hinata nodded in agreement as they took the detour off their course.

As they reached the said site, their eyes confirmed the fight that occurred there. By the looks of the blood, and struggle residue, it was obvious that the fight was not even two day old. Naruto reached toward a body, which by the looks of it, was already deceased. He quickly examined it to pull some info. "Careful, the battle wounds are still fresh. Enemies might be still around here."

"Don't worry. I'm on it."

All the while, Hinata kept looking around with the help of Byakugan in search of any clue.

"It seems these civilians were attacked by some ninjas… which is strange as we have already entered fire country. The only ninja community here is us and we'll definitely not attack villagers." Naruto brooded, gathering the little pieces together.

"These are not villagers. Naruto kun, look here." Hinata beckoned him to where she stood, examining. "These people are bandits and that to dangerous ones. I recognize this one…" gesturing to a dead body in front of her. "…He is Shaku. His name is mentioned in the bingo book." Now analyzing the big gash at his torso, "Whoever took him out…"

She stopped mid-sentence. Naruto, who was listening to her story turned toward her to find out why she stopped. Hinata didn't complete her sentence because just then her gaze fell upon a kunai. Her eyes widened as she pulled out the weapon that was stuck quite deeply inside a nearby tree. Naruto immediately recognized the weapon. It was Konoha-made.

"Naruto kun! Someone needs our help!" Without saying anything more, she took off with bewildered Naruto following just behind her.

"What happened Hinata chan?! Who needs our help?" Naruto called, questioning her sudden actions. He also saw she was still holding the kunai that she picked up.

"When I said someone needed our help, it is true. Someone who was the part of this fight is nearby and is wounded." Her eyebrows creased. "…Wounded enough to be unable to move. And he is from Konoha."

Naruto heard what she said. "How are you so sure that the wounded person is from Konoha?"

"Whoever out there knows the patrol schedules. And also that we always stations a Shinobi from Hyuuga clan in the patrol squad." She explained. "This kunai was a message directed towards the Hyuugas. There is a thin chakra string attached to this kunai, which can only be seen by byakugan users. Shinobi, sans any visual prowess, can't pick up these chakra strings."

"The only thing I dread is how heavily wounded this person would be? Exposing their hiding place like this… can only be considered as a last resort." A sense of urgency stroke them as they sped up toward the other end of the chakra string.

As they approach the hideout, Naruto started to sense a weak presence of someone. "I can sense him. He is near." He informed to Hinata. Moments after, they reached a cove where the chakra string seemed to come to an end. With the help of byakugan, Hinata located the exact location of the wounded. As they reached out to help, three kunai flew toward them but missing them by a large margin.

"Stay where you are and explain your purpose of coming here." a weak voice warned them.

"We followed the chakra string that you supposedly left impaling the tree. We are from Konoha. We came for your aid." Naruto declared. Hinata detected a slight tension into the chakra string. Figuring out the anxiousness, she followed, "Put down your guard. We are only here to help."

But the person was not satisfied with mere promises. A weak command soon followed the short pause. "Give me a proof that you are from Konoha." the fluctuation in the chakra was clearly visible to Hinata. Whoever the person was, he was on the verge of passing out.

Before Naruto could say anything, Hinata stated, "I am Hinata Hyuuga, future head of the Hyuuga clan. I possess byakugan, the rare kekkei genkai found only in our clan. It is how I found your chakra string."

As soon as she completed her sentence the string broke and a wave of pulse passed through both of them. Inferring it as a sign to enter, they hurried forward.

The sight inside was not pleasant. A small female body, barely alive sat at the corner, heavily inclining on the wall of the cove. Several fresh wounds, big enough to be seen from afar spread across her body. The earth around her was already soaked red with her blood. Naruto spotted a cracked anbu mask on her face as Hinata rushed to her side to start the process of First Aid.

"She has already lost too much blood. We need to rush her to a hospital." Naruto looked at the wounded anbu's hands. It had an old, long gash of a wound, running along her entire arm. Combining the old and the fresh wounds, her exposed skin looked tattered and pale as ghost with the lack of blood. He nodded to her demand as Hinata continued to treat her.

* * *

"Her condition is stable right now." Sakura stated as she emerged from the treatment room. "However she is still pretty weak. She had a unique poison in her system that was probably used with the attacks. But don't worry, I managed to pull it out. The loss of her blood actually proved to be lucky for her as most of the poison mixed in her blood didn't get to circulate throughout her system."

Hinata and Naruto, who were waiting for this news, took a breath of relief. It was hard for them to believe that she would survive after that much of blood loss.

"So, who is she?" Sakura asked finally. She was dying to ask how they knew an Anbu member that she knew nothing about.

"We found her in the forest while we were returning from our mission. Looked like she was ambushed." Naruto answered.

"And she is the only survivor?"

Hinata nodded. She had scanned the perimeter from where she found her but nobody living popped up into her sight.

Just then another medic emerged from the same room and spoke directly to Sakura. "The patient is awake." Sakura stood up at the news. "…and first thing she asked for is to see Hokage sama saying it's urgent."

Sakura's face hardened as she perceived the situation. _'She is an Anbu member reporting directly to Tsunade sensei. She must be on a mission when she was attacked. Her asking to see Hokage is definitely related to that mission… I think.'_

"I'll go inform her." Naruto replied instead. He replicated himself and sent the kage bunshin to do the job.

* * *

 _A/N:_ _I'm so happy... so many followers and favorites already! my hearts literally leaps up whenever i get notification from this story! Thank you loads for the reviews... I hope my story is up to your expectations. and yes, I will be doing side stories too. I'll be updating on a regular basis (Unless i get bitten by the Shikamaru bug :P)_


	4. Sudden meeting! A mission together!

_Disclaimer: Naruto. Not mine._

* * *

A heavy aura emitted from Tsunade. Ever since she came from the hospital, her mood had darkened two shades.

 _"_ _I have never seen you this beaten, Tsukuyo." Was the first comment that came out from Hokage's mouth as she entered the hospital room. It took her by surprise when Naruto's bunshin came to her office and delivered the news. She never had imagined that there would be a time when she had to see one of her most reliable soldier or rather the only link left of her past, in such a weak condition which preceded getting revived from her near deathbed._

 _"_ _Oh yeah? Don't you remember the time when you nearly pummeled me to death for slipping some of your sake to my room?" Tsukuyo joked while flashing a weak smile._

 _"_ _That was your mother, not me."_

 _The joke didn't had an effect like the wounded girl had wanted. Instead, it made Tsunade more concerned for her; the crease line on her forehead showed it all._

 _Silence befell upon them succeeding the failure of a weak attempt by Tsukuyo to lighten the mood. Her eyes followed Tsunade as the later reached for the medical chart of her and browsed through the antidotes and medicines listed down for treatment purposes. The silence was killing Tsukuyo if not her current wounds._

 _By now she had contemplated a dozen ways to tell her how she failed the village and the mission. But to her, every scenario worked against her. She didn't want her, of all people, to witness her failure._

 _"_ _I failed the mission, Hokage sama." She blurted out, unable to withhold her guilt any longer. "I failed to complete the task given to me. I failed to save my partner."_

 _Tsunade looked up from the chart to face her properly on hearing her voice, but said nothing. It only made Tsukuyo assume that she was furious with her to the point that she didn't wanted to talk to her. Slowly she resumed, "I am truly sorry that I compromised the mission. I should've anticipated the ambush waiting for us. And now, because of me Shina died–"_

 _"_ _Stop blaming yourself for everything that happens around you." Tsunade cut her at the mid-sentence. She observed the girl in front of her. She had seen many cases of guilt, where the person falls prey to depression and ruins their life; she would not let that happen to Tsukuyo. With the commanding authority of Hokage, Tsunade spoke, "Tsukuyo, give me a verbal report of your mission."_

Tsunade was in deep thought and by the looks of it, it was clear that she was waiting for someone. Just then a sharp knock on her door pulled her out of her train of thoughts. With the permission to enter given out loud, the person entered the room. "Tsunade baa san, you called me?"

After knowing Naruto for seven years, Tsunade had stopped reacting on her special honorifics given by him. He is probably the only one who is alive after calling her an old lady.

"Naruto." A serious tone took over her voice as she addressed the ninja in front of her, "I have a mission for you."

Naruto pouted at the mention of another mission. "But I just came back from one! And I haven't even eaten at Ichiraku's to my fill as a celebratory treat!" He whined as he tried to explain the importance of Ichiraku Ramen after a mission.

"I know that it has been only a day since you came back from the last one, but trust me this is important."

Naruto gave a big sigh as he finally nodded as a gesture of accepting the mission. "Alright. So what is this mission about? When do I have to leave?"

"I'll explain you everything but we are waiting for another person to join you. You are not going alone."

"Another person? An assistant? But I don't need one." Naruto voiced his confusion aloud.

Tsunade smirked as she replied, "Believe me, you'll need him."

A sharp rap on the door informed them that the person they were waiting for, had arrived. Shikamaru had entered through the door as looking listless as ever.

"I thought I was on time." he commented as he checked his watch. Despite having no motivation to push him through the day, Shikamaru rarely arrives late at appointed meetings. He thought that it would be a drag for the waiting party to wait for him, or anyone.

"No, you are just in time. Actually, Naruto arrived not so long ago himself. Anyway, so now that you two are here, I'll state my purpose. You both have to go to a mission together. Affective immediately." Tsunade took a deep breath as she started to explain, "The girl that you rescued yesterday, Naruto… she was supposed to complete a mission but was attacked mid-way." She paused for a second before continuing. "She gave me the whole record of what happened when I talked to her yesterday."

She waited for them to grasp the situation before continuing, "What you need to do is to retrieve the scroll that had gone missing during the attack. She told me that the other scroll is somewhere at that vicinity where you first found her." Tsunade added with a serious tone. "I had dispatched two of the Anbu members for the mission and only one returned… that too with serious wounds. There is a possibility of intruders who could be waiting for another party to search for the scroll. It is sealed somewhere there with a code. That's where you'll be needed Shikamaru. Shina, who died while protecting the scroll, sealed it probably with the basic konoha code. If not, you have to think of something. You have to be careful. It will be dangerous."

"No worries, baa san. I will take care of everything and any intruders too. Whoever they are, they have to try their hardest to defeat me." Naruto said with his famous confident grin.

Even in this situation, the confident, infectious grin of Naruto brought a hint of smile on Tsunade's lips.

"Count me in."

A voice interrupted them. The voice that wasn't supposed to be a part of that meeting. The voice that was very familiar, yet unknown to Shikamaru.

Everybody present in the room, turned to look at the voice source. Shikamaru's eyes widened as she saw a girl entering the room. His heart took a sudden leap, not because of the abrupt intruding of some girl, but because the girl who just entered the room was the same girl he had been searching all along. His gaze fixated on her face, trying to match the voice that had been haunting him for so many days. He had never seen a girl with scars on her face in his entire life. Even though he lived in a ninja village, the girls he knew, didn't bore scars.

Tsunade started, "Kiri! What are you doing here?"

 _'_ _Kiri?'_

"I'm sorry Hokage sama but if you are sending a team to correct my failure of a mission, then I need to go too."

"You should be resting in hospital. Like hell I'll let you go to a mission in your condition!"

"Please, Tsunade san, I need to redeem myself."

Seeing the determination on the scarred face, Tsunade sighed, "What's with you and redeeming… look, whatever you say, you very well know the dangers in this mission. Even if you go against my order, you're only going to be in the way of those two. The poison had weakened you whether you accept it or not."

Tsukuyo tried to continue her argument but she was out of any points favorable to her. Her mouth opened and quickly got closed like a fish. In her five years of serving as an anbu member, she hadn't failed a single mission and she can't let her injuries now to break that streak. She racked her brain to find any single point worth mentioning that could allow her to join, originally hers, mission. And then it clicked.

"You'll need me." she mentioned casually, not to Tsunade but to the person nearest to her, Shikamaru Nara. He turned to look at her, wide eyed, wondering if he had heard right. She didn't said it loudly to be heard quite clearly but said it just the way that it would attract the attention from the one it was directed.

"…I'll need you? How?" unlike Tsukuyo, Shikamaru said loud enough to be heard both by current and the future Hokage.

Their eyes met for the first time. The eyes that had been wanting to see the other for so long, were now looking directly at it. He never imagined that he would be meeting his 'investigation subject' this way. In that moment, every piece of information that he collected till now jogged up, even the way he picturized her in his head. She looked nothing like that.

"My partner died in that mission. He had the other scroll that you are about to go retrieve. He hid the scroll before his death so that the enemy could not lay their hands on it and it's highly probable that it is done with a code. I assume that much Hokage sama had told you in the briefing."

He nodded as the other two watched keenly what she was about to say. "Even if you crack the code, there will be a seal hindering you to retrieve it. It was his specialty. I know this because I have been his partner for years. _That's…_ where I'll be useful." Tsukuyo stressed on the 'I' part. "…To break the seal, you'll need me. You'll need my hand print." She added triumphantly, gesturing her open palms.

"You didn't tell me that earlier. Why?" Tsunade, on realizing that Tsukuyo had cornered her with a new piece of information, commanded her to answer her with her full authority. It was so intimidating that for one second Tsukuyo almost took a step back to put distance between both of them. Her mouth went dry before answering, "I… I just realized it."

For three whole minutes, it looked like there was a staring competition going on between the ladies. Finally Tsunade caved in, took a deep sigh as she accepted the truth.

"Alright."

That one word brought a great relief on Tsukuyo's face as her lips curved upwards ever so slightly. "Thank you." She whispered, just when Tsunade started again.

"But that doesn't mean you go reckless again! Shikamaru, just… see to her that she doesn't go rampaging pointlessly."

"Hey! I don't go rampaging –"

"I'll see to it. Don't worry."

"Hey, you! Don't just go agreeing stuff. I'm right here!"

* * *

 _Finally! Shika gets to meet Tsukki! I was so excited for this! Fun fact- this meeting was the first scenario that formed in my mind. Anyway... I'll update as soon as i can! Keep calm and what a drag._


	5. The seal

_Sorry for the wait! Gomennasai! I got busy with such random stuffs... anyway, since today is my birthday, I really wanted to update. So here, enjoy!_

* * *

Shikamaru swore he had never been so distracted in any mission. Till now. His eyes kept darting towards a certain bandaged girl known as or _rather not known as_ Tsukuyo. The girl who he was yearning to get just another glimpse of not so long ago, was there, just beside him speeding off to a common goal.

He frowned as he realized the detouring of his subconscious self.

 _'_ _This is a mission. Concentrate.'_ He reprimanded himself once again and tried to focus on the upcoming task.

It was a sudden mission that Hokage had assigned him and Naruto this morning with the impromptu addition of a new face. It was then he came to know that the girl he was searching for, was in front of him arguing with the Hokage for joining the mission.

"Naruto san" Tsukuyo addressed Naruto out of the blue. Her voice came out no more than a whisper but it was still received by her mission partners clearly. Both Naruto and Shikamaru's attention turned toward her. "I wanted to thank you for saving my life back there."

"It's alright." Naruto responded rather sheepishly to her sincere gratitude. "You would have done the same thing for me."

This piece of information didn't came as a surprise to Shikamaru. Naruto already filled him with the news of yesterday's incident after their meeting with the Hokage. Shikamaru was surprisingly eager to know the details of the incident.

"…and you don't have to be so formal. We are almost the same age. Aren't we?" He added with his famous infectious grin.

Tsukuyo replied with a smile which got converted into a mixture of guilt and confidence as soon as they entered the mission area. The conflict area was like every other fights, filled with splattered blood, half destroyed and burned trees, weapons sprayed in every direction. The only difference in the area from yesterday was the lack of corpses. The patrol officers cleaned the area overnight from enemy corpses for studying and investigation purposes.

Like a veteran, Shikamaru's eyes started scanning the area of any anomalies. He hadn't grasped the urgency of the mission until he came face to face with the girl Anbu. She too was searching the area for the scroll. The firm, unwavering expression on her face confirmed her earlier declaration of redeeming herself from her guilt. She called for their attention after a few minutes of random search, telling them the correct direction for searching. "Search for anything with a concentrated chakra. Then we can follow it's lead." Tsukuyo advised. The three of them dispersed to cover a larger area in less time. Naruto cloned himself to do the same.

 _'_ _The scroll is well-hidden.'_ Shikamaru praised in frustration after searching for almost two hour. Neither of them were successful in finding a clue apart from narrowing down the hidden area.

"Do you got anything at your side?" he asked via wireless comms.

"No. My clones got nothing. Are you sure we are searching in the correct area?" questioned Naruto.

"Yes we are. It should be somewhere here." Tsukuyo answered.

"It's hiding in the plain sight." Shikamaru muttered. _There is definitely a trick to uncover the hiding place. But what is it? According to Tsukuyo, her partner Shina was a seal jutsu and a genjutsu user. He was almost on the verge of dying…that means he couldn't possibly have used an elaborate seal to hide the scroll. Chances are that he had used (a) a summoning seal (b) blood seal or (c) an A level seal flanked by genjutsu. This would have taken minimum time and less chakra compared to the others._ "We have to look for the obvious. The kind of thing that can be noticed or evident for Konoha Shinobi." Shikamaru voiced his inference to the others for them to act on it. "Look for any traces of genjutsu. If you find it, release the illusion and wait for the other two of us to come to you." The other two agreed and proceeded as he commanded.

Shikamaru was right. The area was indeed hiding in illusion. Soon after the plan was relayed to Naruto and Tsukuyo, one of Naruto's clones got released due to the effect of genjutsu near his searching area. Upon hearing from Naruto that he had found the hidden place, Shikamaru and Tsukuyo rushed toward the mentioned area. Tsukuyo realized that it was the same place where Shina performed his last attack and got blown by at least ten meters due to the sheer pressure of it. Shikamaru saw her eyes watered as she approached the area but ignored it. He understood her pain of losing a friend who had been with her for so many years.

"This is it." Shikamaru stated. The hidden place of the scroll was a small tree hollow glamoured to look like a half broken, charred tree trunk. He extended his hand trying to touch the trunk but experienced an invisible barrier between his palm and the trunk. It shimmered for a few seconds which lasted until the palm was retracted. An excited glint sparked in his eyes as the challenge laid in front of him waited for an acceptance. The other two's eyes never left Shikamaru, awaiting for him to take the first action.

Shikamaru took a deep breath, took a moment to close his eyes in concentration and opened it once again. He put his palm on the barrier again and surged his chakra through it to activate the seal. As soon as his chakra coursed across it, an inky substance crawled out of the tree hollow and covered the trunk. Small random letters etched slowly in front of their eyes on the trunk.

"That's the code." Naruto stated. He too had shifted near the tree to take a good look on what was going on. The code looked simple enough to Naruto. It was a letter based code stretching in three rows and three columns. Like a matrix.

Shikamaru barely nodded in response. His eyes was too focused in making some sense out of the code. He tried to compare the standard Konoha codes with the one etched in front of him. It hardly matched. He clicked his tongue in annoyance. _'So you have decided to be the pain in my ass.'_ he sighed.

Witnessing Shikamaru's annoyed expression and a deep sigh, Tsukuyo asked, "Is something wrong?"

"It's a different code. Not the standard Konoha ones." He said racking his brain. "But given his situation it should be something simple and relatable to him. It has to be something unexpected."

"Relating to him? Like his personality? His family, address, Likes/ dislikes? What?"

"It could be anything. The main point here is to find the 'key'. It's the key that help solve or simplify any code." Shikamaru explained. "In this case, Shina…" he saw Tsukuyo grimace at the mention of the name "possibly had used a word as a key that can be guessed to start the decoding."

Tsukuyo nodded at his explanation as she turned toward the etched marks. "He liked puzzles." She muttered and touched the letters, trying to grasp something from it. She traced the letter 'Shi' lightly and the letter 'Tsu' directly below it. The matrix started to vibrate at her touch. The sudden change in the seal alarmed the three of them.

"What did you do? The seal is starting to respond!" Naruto asked, excited to know that the code is finally getting somewhere.

"Maybe it responded to your touch." Shikamaru added.

"Okay… Now what?" Tsukuyo asked as she slowly backed away from the tree, letting the letters in the matrix to swipe and swirl as the initial position of them changed with a sudden introduction of numbers among them. When it stopped, the random letters and numbers were beautifully stacked in a horizontal line, waiting for the 'guests' to take the next step. This new letter arrangement was familiar to Shikamaru. He now knew that the cracking of code from this step would be a piece of cake. He eagerly closed the remaining gap and placed himself in front of the code. He then started to arrange the letters and numbers once more like the known code. He paired a letter with two numbers like documented files in the village. A smile started its way on Shikamaru's face as he solved the code. His fingers glided over the letters doing their work smoothly. The code was tedious but it broke after a constant arranging of letters/ numbers for ten minutes non-stop.

The barrier broke. The scroll acquired. The mission completed.

A thick mist engulfed the three of them in a matter of seconds. Several shots of kunai flew toward them before they even registered that they were ambushed. It made them disperse in three different directions. Several kunai missed their targets but several did managed to injure them.

 _'_ _This is just like the other day. They waited for us to crack the code so they could ambush us and steal the scroll!'_

Tsukuyo tried to analyze the situation as fast as she could. They separated the three of them so they could engage in a fight more advantageous to them. She didn't had the scroll and she thanked God for it. Even though she was an Anbu, she knew her limits. No way could she win a fight in her current situation. _'But this is not the time to think that.'_ She took an offensive stance and abated her movement to concentrate her chakra to widen her range of listening. _'No one's moving meaning they are cornering us one by one. I can't feel Shikamaru or Naruto's presence anywhere near me. That means the scroll is safe. For now.'_

The air behind her moved. Anticipating what was coming, she swiftly ducked and moved away from the line of attack. The previous injuries proved to be more of a hindrance than the attackers themselves. It won't let her move the way she wanted- the swish of knife was too close to her ear. Cursing under her breath, she again swerved, taking out her kunai and blocked the next attack that was intended for her neck. But that was only the half of the scene. One more attacker approached her, trying to take her from behind. Noticing that she was outnumbered, instead of attacking, she tried to collect her element chakra and conjured a water jutsu to seep away from the attackers.

It did the trick. Since the mist was already of water, it created a perfect body double, letting her get away from the harm. But the mere jutsu was too hard for her weak body. She felt a sharp pain in her abdomen, making her to double over and drop on the ground. _'Damn, can't control the chakra. I'm still too weak.'_ Was her last thoughts as the pain shot up to her head, making her sight blur. She struggled to keep her consciousness but failed miserably.


	6. Concerns and Visits

Disclaimer: No, Naruto story not mine. Shikamaru, not mine. Tsukuyo, mine.

Another update!

* * *

 _'_ _We are being ambushed!'_

Shikamaru's intuition was correct. From the moment they were on to the code breaking, there was something that did not seemed right to him, something icky that he couldn't put a finger on. It would be wrong to say that he did not anticipate an ambush, even if it was less than ten percent. It's just that he thought it would be next to impossible to invade the fire country in two consecutive days.

His first impulse was to secure the scroll that was the core of the mission. He successfully hid himself in a nearby bush before the mist grew thick.

 _'_ _Waiting for us to decode and then attack to snatch the scroll. Good move.'_

He waited for the enemy to take the next action. Since it was the enemy water jutsu that created the mist, Shikamaru and the team were at disadvantage. They had to fall back in order to observe the enemy, their power and number. He hoped Naruto and Tsukuyo did the same too.

 _'_ _Tsukuyo.'_ A sudden chill ran through his body when he remembered the third member of his team. She was already injured and poisoned from the previous fight. Hokage had specially told him to keep an eye on her. If she engage herself in a fight, it could seriously deplete her chakra to dangerous levels.

Now with an extra thing to worry about, he tried to concentrate on any movements that can provide him of any information of what's happening in the mist- Everything was silent.

* * *

Naruto was getting impatient with each passing moment. He knew the correct strategy is to wait and let the enemy make a move so that you don't give away your position when you are in a clear disadvantage. Shikamaru and the anbu girl Kiri was doing the same.

 _'_ _I have to do something. At least to make sure that they are alright.'_

Naruto quickly shifted into his sage mode making it easy for him to search for other chakra bodies in the thick mist. He easily located the two of his mission mates hiding not so far away. Even though their comms were on, he dare not made a sound fearing that it would alert the enemies. Instead, he made two clones and commanded them to contact Shikamaru and Kiri.

But a mission can never go as smooth as one thinks. Just as he set this clones on their way, two shadows emerged from the mist and attacked him. Already sensing the attackers coming from behind, Naruto substituted himself for a log and positioned himself at their blind spot. He then aimed strong kicks at their back in quick succession, not giving them any chance to counter. Both the attackers were taken in by surprise as they got thrown onto the nearby trees by the sheer power of the kicks. It took them a moment to realize who their opponent was when they saw an orange blur flash by their sights and pushed them against the trees. The fright in their eyes became more evident when they saw two extra hands like shape made of pure chakra emerging from the back of Naruto.

The isolated attack was a piece of cake for Naruto. It took him less than two minutes to capture his attackers, he didn't even broke a sweat on it but during this whole ordeal, the real shocker came to him when he sensed one of his clone dissipating and vanishing into thin air. As his clone vanished, all the information that it had gathered got transferred into the main body. This transfer made him realize as to what had happened with one of his team mates. He promptly shoved the heads of the two men that he had captured into the tree trunk, making them loose consciousness and headed straight towards the place where he felt his clone's presence not so long ago.

* * *

Shikamaru's shadow ability was perfect for stealth mission and for capturing enemies.

He laughed at the convenience of his ability as he finished tying up the unconscious enemies that had popped up in front of him as suddenly as the start of the whole attack. The enemies were either foolish enough or utterly uncoordinated to have partners with clashing techniques. _'I had overestimated them. Seriously…Who in their right mind lifts the perfectly advantageous mist veil just to use a totally opposite elemental technique on an enemy they know nothing about? I retract my last praise for them.'_

"Oh, Naruto! Good thing you came to find me first. I'm almost finished here–"

"I'm just a bunshin, but that can wait. Something is wrong at Kiri's side. We need to hurry."

* * *

The next thing that Tsukuyo remembered was being carried away on someone's back. It hurt to even open her eyes but she did it anyway. You see, it can be considered hard to relax, even if you were being carried away, when you lost your consciousness in the middle of an ambush and you don't know what had happened while you were out cold.

Her vision was blurry and she was painfully aware of her eyes in her sockets. At first, she thought something was wrong with her head that she was seeing double visions but it was just the shadow clones of Naruto that came in focus. To register more of the situation that she was in, she tried to turn her head.

"Oh, you are awake."

Words didn't came out from her mouth in reply. Just a grunting sound from the back of her vocal tract. She felt them slow down and coming into a total halt a few moment later.

"What happened?" Tsukuyo finally asked the question that she was dying to ask from the moment she gained her consciousness. This mission meant too much for her and she fainted while executing it.

"We were ambushed. You fainted. We completed the mission."

"Oh." And she fainted again.

"What? She fainted again?" Naruto asked. "I thought I transferred enough chakra in her body to last till we reached the village."

"That's what I was thinking. She must have used a considerable amount of chakra to escape the enemy that her body consumed your borrowed chakra like sponge. Anyway… we must hurry before something happens to her."

It took her three consecutive days of rest before she even opened her eyes. It was sometime around the afternoon by the look of sunlight pouring through the window. Her eyes still felt heavy but somehow less pained. _'I am back in the hospital. Great.'_

Her throat felt dry, fingers stiff and back rigid. Million thoughts crossed her mind as she attempted to comb through it.

 _Mission. Is Scroll safe? Who ambushed us? I fainted again. Did attackers got captured? Shikamaru carried me. I was a dead weight. Can't move. I'm hungry. I need water._

She moved groggily toward the glass of water, trying to make her stiff muscles work but before she even reached the side table, another hand came and scooped up the glass and handed her directly. Not noticing anyone's presence in the room, Tsukuyo did a double take when a hand came into her vision. She focused her attention from the glass of water to the person handing her the glass. It was Shikamaru.

"You are here?" Tsukuyo didn't knew why she said it. It came out as a question but wasn't meant to be one. Even though she wasn't expecting anyone to wait for her to wake up, it did felt nice to know that someone was indeed waiting for her to wake up and concern about her well-being.

"Yeah…."

She took the glass of water from his hand and drained down her throat. She could actually feel the cold water travelling down her digestive system and into her stomach as it woke her thirst and hunger for good. Shikamaru refilled the glass as he watched her drain that as well.

"Hungry?" He asked, after her third glass of water.

"Yeah."

* * *

"You lied to us." Shikamaru said as he ate his last piece of food from his plate. "Your handprint was not needed."

Tsukuyo didn't answered immediately. Instead, she took her sweet time in chewing her hospital food thoroughly as if enjoying the deliciously bland taste that all hospital food contains.

"Well… technically we did use my handprint in the initial step."

"It wasn't even the handprint! It was just your touch. 'Fingerprint' to be more precise. Even you didn't knew what to do back then. It was all accident."

"Okay, Okay. I took a shot. But I needed to come." She said, looking directly at his eyes. "Without that piece of information, Tsunade san would've never allowed me to come to the mission."

"She was not allowing you because of your health. Look what you did to yourself. You could have died out there without even putting up a decent fight!"

"But it worked out accordingly, isn't it?" Tsukuyo said with a sheepish grin. "You don't have to report that. You haven't given up the report. Right?"

Shikamaru sighed before answering her. "You were out like a light for three days. Of course I am done with the report."

Tsukuyo pushed her finished plate aside. She didn't expect herself to sleep for three whole days. _Three days! Maybe because of chakra depletion. Was I that weak during the mission?_ A look similar to confusion and disappointment surfaced on her face. "Why are you here then?" The question was not rude. It was just filled with curiosity. "I thought you would've wanted to know my side of the story- 'who attacked, or whether I recognize the attacker' for the report."

The question took Shikamaru by surprise. A frown formed on his face trying to rationalize the reply. For some reason, he had been coming to the hospital for past three days with some excuse or other. The first day it was for Tsukuyo with Naruto- he insisted for a visit and Shikamaru accepted. The second day, he visited Ino and Sakura for lunch. Today, he just wanted to have a look around, to see if everything was okay.

 _This is not me. 'Why am I here then?'_

"Now, don't tell me that you came here just to reprimand me on my actions." Tsukuyo said guiltily. "I know I was reckless and I am sure Tsunade san will be giving me a hard time for that."

Shikamaru didn't gave answer to her question at all. He excused himself out after few minutes. The question didn't left his mind all the way to his home. Still then, he couldn't think of an answer. _Was I interested in her? Yes. I had spent days searching for her identity. But now that I knew who she was, why am I still detouring toward her?_ _Visiting every day… checking if she's alright…_

* * *

Yayy! 19 followers of the story! with 14 favorites! Omg! I'm so happy!

Sorry for not updating more frequently... I'm trying my best to do it even if i'm busy. It's all because my internship in Japan had been finalized! Oh, yesss. I'm going to Japan! :D :D


	7. Finding Closure

I do not own Naruto.

I'm sooooo sorry that I didn't update for so long! Things happened. But I promise I'll update regularly from now on!

* * *

'Becoming insomniac to get rid of nightmares' is a right choice or is 'Trying to sleep even with the nightmares to escape reality which is a constant reminder of the one you have lost' the better option? - Tsukuyo is in dire need to know the answers of these questions.

Getting discharged from the hospital had been a little help to her. Doctors deemed her body to be fit to resume her daily life routine with little restrictions. But that didn't include her grief-stricken mind. Now that she was discharged, she didn't had access to the sleeping pills that had let her sleep dreamlessly. Now, she was on her own, at the mercy of the God, for letting her get her sleep for once without the brutal reminder of her friend's death.

It had been one week since the day she had slept peacefully. How could she, when every time she closes her eyes, she relive her friend's death again and again. Waking up in the middle of the night, sweating profusely and eyes wide open for the rest of the night had become her new routine. This new routine had left her mentally frustrated. With no other choice but to stay awake to avoid such nightmares, she had started to work herself to death. She kept herself busy with one chore or other in her free time. No wonder her one bedroom flat was sparkly clean these days.

It's been two weeks. Tsukuyo's bed was beginning to become just a showpiece for a furniture. She gave up pretending to sleep altogether. She had barely touched her bed after since. In the meantime, she had made 'cleaning' an obsessive habit of hers. She also started going to the memorial stone just to stare at the names of her loved ones. She had once again reverted back to the habits that she developed when her parents died in the fourth Great War. But the one friend that had pulled her back last time from her own created abyss, the one that she always relied upon, was now, gone.

* * *

"It is surprisingly clear today." Shikamaru said to no one in particular as he glanced towards the cloudless sky before stepping outside of his house. It was quite early to see the head of the Nara clan fully dressed so early in the morning. But today was not ordinary day. Today was special, for him.

His legs automatically lead him to his destination in a steady but much slower pace. For the past four years, it had become his ritual to visit his grave at this time of the year. Every year he would come and light a cigarette instead of offering flowers at Asuma's grave. Ino had at times pointed out this weird practice of his, saying, 'it's not customary' but he had done it nevertheless. He felt it right that way. Today also, he went to his grave to do the same.

There was always someone present at the graveyard paying their respect to their loved ones almost every day. Today was no different. Generally, Shikamaru pay little to no attention to them, letting them have their own private time. Today also, he noticed someone, a small figure, sitting by a grave three rows down from him, almost at the corner of the graveyard. She looked like someone he knew but he couldn't tell for sure as her face was half covered with her hair, almost like she was embarrassed to look directly at the grave.

When he reached Asuma's grave, his attention returned back to where it was supposed to be. He stood there for a quality of time reminiscing the past while placing the alight cigarette on the headstone. All this time he visited, he never talked to the grave. He thought it to be pointless because according to him people, even after they die, they never leave the sides of their loved ones. They always look after and guide them from wherever they are.

He turned to return back to his house when his eyes went automatically to that same figure he noticed before. He was surprised to see that the whole time he was there, she had not moved an inch from her place. His mind whirled in trying to put a name to the familiar figure. _Who is she? And where have I seen her?_ He thought as his legs moved forward. It clicked when he was near enough to see the long gash in her arm.

 _'_ _Tsukuyo.'_ He felt a sudden warmth as her name ringed in his mind but died as soon as he registered her appearance.

She looked fragile, and much smaller than he last remembered. But more than that, she seemed soulless. Like someone had purposely sucked all of her chakra and left her an empty shell.

 _'_ _Why is she looking like this? She got discharged weeks ago, didn't she? She is supposed to be getting better, not worse.'_

"Kiri?"

A pair of blank eyes lifted up and stared straight at him. Lips parted ever so slightly and said his name.

"Shika…maru?"

 _'_ _This is not her.'_

Tsukuyo saw an unasked question building inside him. Somehow she felt she should explain herself sitting at the graveyard, alone, for god knows how many hours.

"…um…" she couldn't think of saying anything. Instead, she turned her head and looked at the headstone for the first time in the day. A neatly carved name 'Shina Wotsukuru' registered in her mind and made her to look away almost instantly. She knew she was being miserable but what could she had done.

Shikamaru understood her condition. _'She is grieving for her friend. Of course she would look miserable.'_ He hesitated and pondered what to say next. _'What does anyone say in these kind of situation?'_

After a short pause, he extended his hand, gesturing her to stand up and said, "Come on, I want to show you something."

Confused, as to what he could possibly be showing her now, Tsukuyo took his hand. He effortlessly pulled her up, noticing the drastic change of weight. He then, took her to Asuma's grave.

 _'_ _Asuma Sarutobi'_ she read the name.

"Today is Asuma sensei's death anniversary." He gestured, "…and I think I'm the first one to visit here today, even before his four year old daughter."

She looked up at him when she heard a light chuckle. A little confused as to what made him chuckle when she heard clearly that he was talking about death anniversaries and young daughter visiting graves.

"Mirai is always cheerful and happy even when visiting her father's grave on the death anniversary. Because according to her, she is going to meet her father and tell him about how she has been, what she learned, and all about her daily adventures. Even though she never met him, she says, 'she miss him'. It is for her, that people around her never shows their sorrow and try to go on with their life." Shikamaru paused as memories crossed in front of his eyes. The sadness that flashed for a second on his face was not missed by Tsukuyo.

"….What I'm trying to say is, you can't let death affect you like this. Find a closure. I have lost loved ones, too. I know what you are going through. But you have got to continue on with the life. We are the one adults here." He paused. "And I'm sure some of your kouhai are definitely waiting for you to bounce back up and guide them like, I'm sure, Shina would had done for you."

 _'_ _He is right. I have to accept the reality. Being depressed would not get me anywhere. If not for me, then for the sake of others.'_ A determined expression crossed her face as she made up her mind.

"…And if you move on with the reality, then probably your insomnia would get cured too."

Tsukuyo's head turned to face him at that comment. His eyes were fixed on her. _'Do I look that sleep deprived, that anybody could just take a glance at me and tell?'_

"Anyway… we should head back. It's been quite a few hours since the day started."

Tsukuyo nodded her head in agreement and they started toward the exit. She wasn't sure but she thought she heard something like '…have to practice with the team and it is a drag…'

They parted ways as her apartment was in her sight. Shikamaru went to the training grounds and Tsukuyo went back to her apartment. They never discussed where to go first but Shikamaru escorted her to her apartment. She never protested. After all, being in the company with someone, gave her the warmth that she severely lacked these past few weeks. She, for the first time in weeks, felt that the heaviness in her heart, even though it was little, ebbed away.

All this time, Shikamaru failed to notice how he never left her hand since he pulled her up at the graveyard. It didn't even occur to him to leave the side of her when she looked so vulnerable.


	8. Kiri and Kaku

**I don't own Naruto. :(**

 **Ah! another update!**

* * *

 _"_ _Nice to meet you too, kid. Just… don't die on my command, alright?"_

 _"_ _Not planning to. Also, don't call me 'kid'. You are hardly three years older than me."_

 _"_ _Who cares! The bottom line is 'I'm still older than you'. So, until I feel like it, I'll call you a 'kid'."_

 _"…_ _Okay, so until then, I'll call you 'Oji san'."_

 _"_ _Hey! That's rude! 'Oji san' honourfics are for old people."_

 _"_ _I'm just implying what you said a moment ago."_

 _"_ _Now you are just twisting the statements. Ok… If you want to call me anything, call me 'Onii san'!"_

 _"…_ _."_

 _"_ _What?! Why can't you call me onii san?"_

 _"…_ _."_

 _"_ _Okay. Scratch that… How about 'Sempai' then?"_

 _"'_ _Sempai' is good."_

 _"…_ _You are rude for a kid, you know."_

* * *

 _"_ _Congratulation on finishing your first mission as an ANBU member. You were quite a badass back there."_

 _"_ _Yeah, badass… with few cracked ribs, a hairline fracture, an almost- drowning experience, and lots of cuts and bruises. Really stupid, but badass."_

 _*laughs* "Well, at least you didn't die."_

 _"_ _I'm not planning to. I've told you that already. Don't you remember, Baka Sempai?"_

"…hey!"

* * *

 _"_ _Kid? You listening to me? Hey, kid? Answer me!" "Kiri?" "Tsukuyo!"_

 _"…"_

 _"_ _Get your shit together! We are in the middle of a mission. I know that first kill is always traumatizing. Even more when it's cold-blooded. But you are an ANBU. It is your job to assassinate. 'A shinobi must always put the mission first_ _'_ _remember. It is the shinobi rule to kill their emotions and complete their missions. We must not compromise the task. Save your emotions for later. This way your mind will not get deviated from your task."_

 _*Tsukuyo nods*_

 _"_ _Now come on. After we get back home, we'll drink our weights."_

* * *

 _"_ _Watch out, Shina!"_

 _"_ _Now, now Tsukuyo, don't go dropping honorifics on your whim. Look! You startled me so much that this piece of white shit almost got trampled –"_

 _"_ You _were being attacked from behind, Baka sempai. There was no time for me to warn you with you precious honorifics! …And for your information, these piece of white shits are called zetsu –"_

 _"–_ _Yeah, yeah. No need to –" "–know what they are called–" " –for beating the shit out of them–"_

 _"–You know what. Y_ _ou swore a little too much these days–"_

* * *

 _"_ _They are gone, Shina. They are gone…"_

 _"…_ _I know."_

 _"_ _My whole family…"_

 _"…_ _I know."_

 _"_ _My father…my mother…. My sister. EVERY DAMN ONE!"_

 _*silence*_

 _"…_ _I know."_

 _"_ _I SAW MY FATHER DIE IN FRONT OF ME! AND I COULDN'T EVEN CRY!... I couldn't even cry, Shina. Why? Because a_ shinobi must always put the mission first? Just beause a shinobi must never show their tears? _"_

 _"…_ _.I know."_

 _"…_ _and me? I'm left here. All alone –"_

 _"_ _Don't you ever think you are alone, Tsukuyo. I'm here. I'm not dead yet."_

 _*tears trickling down*_

 _"_ _I'll be by your side, and don't you ever forget that. Whenever you need me."_

 _*whispers* "…I hate wars."_

* * *

 _"_ _Kaku, Kiri. I need not say it that your mission is a covert operation. The information and the scroll retrieving is on the top of the priority list."_

 _"_ _Yes, Hokage sama."_

 _"_ _Then, Dismiss."_

* * *

 _"_ _They are gaining on us!"_

 _"_ _Do you think we can take them? How many are they?"_

 _"_ _They have advantage. It's three against one. We can't escape them without risking the mission. One of us have to step back and block their advances. We will split the scrolls to buy us some time."_

 _"_ _Roger."_

* * *

 _"_ _So you'll stop us from advancing?" *manic laughter* "Where is the girl?" "I don't have any business with you."_

 _"_ _Hah! You want the girl? Or do you mean the scrolls? But before that, care to tell me why you are so sure that the scrolls are in her possession? It could have be with me."_

 _"_ _You don't know anything you fool! The scrolls does not hold as much importance as the girl does!"_

 _"_ _I know at least this much, Shaku of the Ho tribe, that for whatever reasons you want her, you won't be getting even the scent of her."_

Tsukuyo took a deep breath as she recalled the last memories of Shina that had haunted her for past three weeks. A chill ran through every corner of her body, whether it was due to the memories or the cold night air, she couldn't tell. Their fight in the woods flashed in front of her eyes like a live telecast. Every bark she stepped on, every tree she circled, the rustle of dry leaves, the snapping of twigs, vividly etched in her memories, forever. She wouldn't be surprised if she remembers every details of the incident even after a decade.

She trembled with the memory playing in her head, like reliving that doomed moment. The clank of her tanto with the enemy blades, slashing the empty air while dodging the many flyaway kunai coming to her direction roused her anxiety level. _They were surrounded by the enemy._ They were cornered. But even the infamous bingo book assassin Shaku of the Ho tribe could not frightened her anymore. She just wanted to escape from there alive with his comrade.

Somewhere down below her was a small creek, aligned by boulders of numerous shapes and sizes. Due to the moonlight, the water reflected a silvery glow to the surroundings, creating a night scene that was breathtaking on it's own. But her eyes did not saw the beauty of the landscape, they were dead set in the past.

 _Clank. Another kunai was deflected by her tanto. With her peripheral vision, she tried to locate Shina's position but he was nowhere near her. Trying not to worry, she concentrated back at her fight._

 _Keeping up the deflection, she increased her speed to get the enemy into her range of attack while her hands danced in coordination to form a series of signs. A pulse of cold air gushed through the surroundings and got concentrated around her weapon. As soon as she felt the slight heaviness at the hilt, she boosted her step one again with her chakra and landed right in front of her enemy. One swish and the enemy was cut down into two halves._

 _But she didn't had time even to crack a smile. Another one with a bald head came charging toward her. Both of them launched their air kick at the same time. She parried every blow with her arms and legs. Somewhere from the shadows another one aimed almost dozen shuriken at her which she barely dodged but faltered as some of them reached their target. She retreated few steps back and pulled the shuriken out of her body in one swift motion._

 _A few chain of explosions echoed throughout the area somewhere to her right. 'Shina's doing well I guess.' A smirk crack on her lips even with her heavy panting. She tried to calculate her remaining chakra and what level of jutsu she can perform. It was not looking good for her._

 _"_ _Give up, girl. You stand no chance against us. You are outnumbered and I can guarantee that your friend is already dead." The bald head spoke._

 _But she paid no heed to his provoking. There was another pressing matter that needed more attention. For some unknown reason, her chakra was running low._

 _*At another fight, some kilometers away*_

 _"_ _Tell me what do you mean when you said, 'the girl was more important' and I will give you a painless death?" Shina's menacing words rang through the air. His well-groomed hair messed up and dirtied due to his fight._

 _"_ _You are in no position to deliver threats, boy." Shaku cackled in return. He was saying the truth. Even though Shaku had received serious wounds, Shina was worse._

 _"_ _We'll see about that." Shina whispered and launched himself again in the air above Shaku. Two scrolls simultaneously appeared in his hands with a poof. He threw one of them open while the other on his mouth as his fingers blurred into wielding signs. Spikes of earth jutted out of the ground direct below him. But Shaku was faster. He replaced himself with the corpse of his dead comrade and barely avoided a spike that was about to impale him._

 _The attack was not over yet. With the other scroll opened and another series of hand signs, the earth-spikes melted into muddy water._

 _Shaku did not anticipated it. He lost his footing and got stuck in the sticky muck. He grunted in pain as his legs twisted in the constraints of the element jutsu. Shina put more chakra to restrain him in the (now hardening) earth despite of being utterly exhausted._

 _"_ _Looks like you are stronger than I assumed." Shaku hissed. And with a devious smile he threw something out of his pocket. With a loud bang, the whole area filled up with smoke._

 _Shina stumbled at the sudden but obvious trick. But refusing to let him get free from his clutch, he moulded more of his chakra and created a large pit enough to bring down the whole smoke covered region. His attack went in vain. He found no man, living or dead, in the pit._

 _"_ _Where could he –" a chill ran through his spine as his mind thought the worst._

 _'_ _Shit, Tsukuyo!' he bolted toward the direction where he thought Tsukuyo was. A grim feeling dawned on him as he notched up his speed despite of his exhaustion._

 _*Back to Tsukuyo's fight*_

 _This had never happened to her before. She had only been using her half chakra potential in that fight but still for some unknown reason her chakra came down as low as twenty percent. She kicked down her opponent to block the aggressive attack of another one. They were teaming up against her ever since she cut down their third team member. Slowly she was being pushed into a corner._

 _'_ _I have to end this in one shot or I'll be in trouble.' She threw her tanto high up above her and took out her shurikens, two at each hands. She whirled them toward the bald head and the other two shuriken toward the remaining enemy. The baldy readied his stance to block the air-bourne weapon as it approached him. It took him by surprise when the shurikens flew right through him, making him realize that it was just an illusion. He quickly turned around in panic anticipating the retaliation coming from behind. He was right. Tsukuyo was standing right behind him delivering him a blow hard on his gut. He doubled over in pain but he was no amateur. At the same time, he took out his kunai and cut straight through her mid- section. He grinned to see her splutter blood all in front of her._

 _"_ _Hah. As I told you before. You don't stand a chance –" his condescending laugh broke mid-way as a sick sound of metal impaling through flesh with blood gurgling overrode his voice._

 _He slowly turned as his head registered what had happened. He saw another Tsukuyo standing over him with a bloodied tanto in her hand. The 'blood spewing Tsukuyo' in front of him, slowly melted away, blending seamlessly in the air._

 _*At the same time, with the other enemy*_

 _The shurikens that was chucked toward him had blasting tags attached to them. He easily dodged them by ducking behind a nearby tree. He waited till the smoke thinned out, readying himself for an attack._

 _A swishing sound made him turn over. He couldn't distinguish exactly what the sound was as it was barely audible. His eyes went wide in panic as soon as he recognized the sound. In a lightning speed, he weaved the signs and blocked the gushing water with a small yet effective earth barrier._

 _The small area where they were fighting, was now submerged in water._

 _"_ _That little –" He couldn't complete his cursing as a sharp blow came from his right._

 _"_ _I'll make you pay for it." He said spitting a loose tooth out of his mouth. And he charged towards her._

 _It all happened at the same time. He charged at Tsukuyo with a kunai in his hand; Tsukuyo taking a stance to counter him; a long, black spike came from out of her field of vision piercing her opponent and approaching her fast; a strong and familiar back coming between her and the spike._

A painful howl echoed somewhere in the middle of the night.

* * *

 **Sorry, no Shikamaru in this update. This was specially about Tsukuyo and her past with Shina. and it was kind of important to show what happened during that attack. Also, bear with me, I suck at writing fights scenes. Gomen.**


	9. Away from the active field?

_**I can never own Naruto!**_

 **Another update!**

* * *

Even though there was desk full of official documents begging for her to pay attention just for once, Tsunade was nowhere in the mood for doing the paperwork. The whole scenario was not new for Shizune but she dared not interrupt the Hokage's train of thoughts. 'Something is troubling her.' She thought. _'Maybe I should come back later. Her ever-flickering moods becomes easily infuriating if bothered at a wrong time.'_ And she tried to tip toe away from behind the door as quietly as possible. She not even cleared a mere meter of a distance when a voice called her from behind.

"If you want to come in, just come already, Shizune."

 _'_ _There we go.'_ Shizune mentally smacked herself for being careless enough to get caught during one of her foul moods. But it's not her fault that her superior is one of the three legendary sannin and that it's almost impossible to sneak around them even if you are highly trained for it.

"Tsunade sama…" she gently addressed the hokage in front of her as she entered the room with careful and calculating pace. Deciding not to dilly-dally even for a second, she went straight to the point. Clearing her throat, she started, "I'm here to give the report on behalf of the medical research team." She paused to observe the expression reflecting on Tsunade's face but only got a blank stare in return.

 _'_ _Okay… maybe I'm not being clear. I'll try again.'_ "It's about the rare poison that we found inside Anbu Kiri's system after the attack."

Tsunade's attention heightened at the mention of Kiri's name. She had been incessantly concerned about her health since the day she and her partner were ambushed. The condition she was brought in the hospital was no joke. And on top of it, there was this rare poison. Even Sakura, one of the best medical nin, was having trouble extracting the poison out of her.

"Our researchers have been working on it day and night to reveal the ingredients of the poison. However, what we found was totally unexpected." Shizune handed her the file. "We took a few drops of poison and tried to mix it with our different chakra samples to study the reaction and the components of it. Almost all the results were same. It didn't mix with the chakra. But whenever the sample chakra is activated, the poison acts and starts eating it. Once it started to consume, the poison was difficult to draw out." Shizune took another breath. "…Tsunade sama, this poison is continuing to attack the chakra levels even after extracting all of it from the experiment samples."

"Oh God…" Tsunade ran her fingers through her hair in frustration and concern, not bothered at all about her neatly tied up hair being messed up. _'Then this means…'_ her thoughts went straight towards Tsukuyo and her degrading health. Shizune might not have said it straight away but Tsunade knows what she was implying. _'There is still traces of poison left in her body that is eating her chakra. And if this continues…'_

* * *

Shikamaru's advice did help her greatly. She didn't thought that crying her heart out would make her feel lighter. The distinct pain that kept throbbing inside her heart, the pain that sometimes made her breathing heavy and left her gasping for the air was now not as constricting as it felt before. _'Maybe…'_ she thought, _'Maybe this time too I can deal with my grief with a friend on my side…'_

Tsukuyo looked herself in the mirror. She was surprised to notice how flimsy her skin looked, how tired she looked, and how she had become someone she don't even recognize. She tore her eyes away from her reflection and head towards her bathroom. She was determined to wash away her exhaustion and her sorrow with the water and start her life from a fresh page. Shina too, would have wanted that.

The next day started with Tsukuyo visiting Hokage's office with a new resolve and it was that same resolve that made her wait for an hour for Hokage to meet with her.

"Hokage sama." Tsukuyo addressed. "I'm here to report and take my mission for the day."

Tsunade lifted her eyes to look straight ahead. Her eyes, still heavy from the lack of sleep and all the research from the last night, fixed upon the familiar figure. For a second, what she saw was not an ANBU member ready for her service but her long lost comrade. It pained her to think that she might not able to save her daughter just like she couldn't save her friend. _'No. I'm not going to let that happen. I'm going to save her. I will counter this poison no matter what it takes.'_

It took her almost a minute to answer. "…right. Here. I have a mission for you. Just for you." She pulled a drawer and took out a file from the depths of it.

Tsukuyo's mouth hung open in surprise when she read the file. "…I think you gave me the wrong file."

"I haven't made any mistake. That is in fact your next mission."

"But it says…"

Tsunade gave her a hard look.

"I can't be a teacher, Tsunade san!" She protested.

"This is for your own good. Going back to the academy will give you some time to revert back to your old self, to heal from the grief. Have you look at yourself in the mirror these days? You look like a damn corpse."

"But I'm okay now! That's why I took those leave, remember?"

"Tsukuyo. You have to accept this mission. This is an order." Tsunade commanded. "Just because you know me from your childhood that doesn't mean I'll let you refuse my command." Authority reflected from her voice effortlessly. Tsukuyo couldn't utter a word in return, just nodded, saluted and took an about turn.

 _'_ _This way your chakra usage should decrease now for the time being.'_ Tsunade thought. _'Until I solve this mystery poison, I'll not let you go back to the active field.'_

* * *

Tsukuyo couldn't remember being that nervous in her entire life.

It was her first day as a teacher at the Academy and she was a nervous wreck. If it had been a high-end recon mission, she would had her confidence brimming; even if it were an assassination mission, she would had been more than happy to complete it. But when it comes to deal with children– as their teacher– to impart knowledge and being patient with the young minds… then she becomes a whole other person.

"Come on. I know you can do it." Iruka said, nudging her a little at her back.

"Do you? Because I know _I can't_!" Tsukuyo breathed out.

"Don't be silly, Tsukuyo. I know you from your Academy days. I know for sure that you can do it. Now come on."

"Okay… but stop calling me by my true name. I am named Kagiri for a reason!" she hissed.

Together, they entered the classroom. It was quite a lively one. Children were all over the place- Some children were talking in groups, some were sitting, some were sleeping while some were playing 'Tag'. She even saw a few who were standing on the desks trying to jump from one desk to another. One thing she noticed that she had been given the class of the beginners at the Academy. That means she now have to start her every day with a bunch of six years olds.

"Quiet down everyone!" Iruka roared.

There was a few moments of rumbling, children crisscrossing randomly to get to their seats, but soon all of them settled down.

"Good morning, everyone!"

The class wished Iruka back in a low chorus. "Now then, before we start the class let me introduce to you, your new Sensei!" He gestured toward Tsukuyo and said, "Everyone, this is Kagiri sensei. She would be teaching you the basic theories." Audible sighs could be heard all through the class. Tsukuyo literally could see that her prediction of being hated by every single child is slowly becoming a reality.

After being left to deal with the class alone by Iruka, Tsukuyo took a deep breath to start her first lecture of her life.

"So…." She started. All eyes were on her and that made her fumble on her way to the teacher's desk. "…umm…"

 _'_ _Oh God…'_

* * *

It's been half an hour since Tsukuyo's class had begun. A topic 'Survival Actions- basics' was written on the board in a neat handwriting. Many of the students taking notes while an equal number of students looking drowsy and ready to pass out any moment.

"… _Developing a survival pattern that lets you beat the enemies of survival. This survival pattern must include food, water, shelter, fire, first aid, and signals placed in order of importance. For example, in a cold environment, you would need a fire to get warm; a shelter to protect you from the cold, wind, and rain or snow; traps or snares to get food; a means to signal friendly aircraft; and first aid to maintain health. If injured, first aid has top priority no matter what climate you are in._ " Tsukuyo explained to the class. " _Remember, changing your survival patterns according to your environment depends greatly upon how you perceive–_ "

She stopped. Immediately, the whole class's attention got fixed on her, trying to guess why she stopped.

 _'_ _Wow…. I sound boring even to me!'_ she looked at the bored out children's faces. _'I need to fix this…and just hope Iruka don't lecture me on diverting this lesson this way.'_

"Everybody!" She commanded. "Let's go outside!" and without waiting another moment she walked out of the class.

Perplexed, as to why they are outside in a theory class, they waited for their sensei to give the next command. They stood facing Tsukuyo in a form of an arc.

"It was getting too boring inside the classroom so here we are!" she gestured by opening her arms wide. "What we'll do now is try the same survival actions in practical." She did a small amount of nature transformation and created a small stream that weaved around the trees making it look more natural. Students' eyes went wide as they saw the creation of a terrain.

"Now, let's go through the 'Actions' once again."

* * *

It was a normal day at the training ground one. Two blurs raced each other as the time ticked away on the stopwatch.

The goal was to pierce as many targets as possible before your opponent does. No tools limitations.

Hisagi threw a shuriken to block Nagisa's and impaled the next two targets in front of them as he moved forward in a record speed. He twisted in the mid-air to aim another one located a little off his route by redirecting one of his shuriken through two continuous strike at its angle. It curved at a surprising degree and hit the target. A smirk played upon his face as he thought how easy that training was for him.

The stuck-up ass he was being by showing off his shuriken skills was not for nothing. He had mastered all kinds of projectile tools by the time he was nine and had honed his talent since then to the point it was almost flawless.

The tick of annoyance grew on Nagisa's forehead when she saw how easily Hisagi countered her double illusion shuriken technique. Promising herself to make him wipe his smirk off his face, she flickered her body to almost at the centre of the targets after weaving a series of hand signs. Few drops of liquid chakra leaked from the tips of her fingers taking shapes much like long needles which she aimed towards every direction. Her concentration on every visible target guided her needles to their goals.

The Chakra needles made its way to their targets piercing through everything in its path. It left a bullet sized holes on almost everything it touched. A deep satisfied smile made its way to her face- She had always felt that using chakra needles were much more convenient as well as user-friendly than any shuriken.

"Aaahh! The training was to use ninja tools to get to the targets with a potential enemy threat at the loose! At what point did you confused the usage of 'ninja tools' to the usage of 'chakra manipulation'?" Hisagi stomped his way toward Nagisa.

Nagisa gave him a sly smile as she said, "It was only fair when you chose your expertise for today's training. Besides, I only used chakra manipulation for the finishing move."

"Even so–"

"Why are you even complaining, you already won this contest."

" –but only by a margin of three."

"Stop showing-off, you arrogant prick."

Nagisa finally sat down on the ground, trying to ignore the antics of Hisagi. She was beat. Training with Hisagi always turned out her being out of breath whereas Hisagi still left with enough energy to whine about it all day long.

Hisagi sprawled beside her and breathed out a long sigh. "Without sempai, our training always ends up like this."

Nagisa nodded. It had been almost a week since they had trained with Shikamaru. Although he was never that frequent with the training schedule and had avoided it like plague saying it was the most bothersome thing to do.

"Ne… Nagisa, how much do you know about sempai?"

Nagisa turned to look at him. His face was serene, not even a trace of extra emotion was out of place which made that out-of-the-blue question confused her more. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"I mean, do you know if he has a girlfriend?"

Nagisa nearly choked on her spit. It was clear to her how that conversation was going to end. "Oh my God, I knew it! You _like_ Shikamaru sempai! All those days when I thought–"

A deep blush painted his face red as he suddenly sat up. "Stop jumping into conclusions, Nagisa. I thought you knew who I like–" he took a deep breath and then continued, "…Anyway, that's not I was saying, I only asked because a few days ago, I saw him holding hands with a girl."

"What!" Nagisa's eyes were as wide as saucers. "…are you sure?"

"Yeah! And I was shocked too!" his eyes showed as much excitement as a little girl.

"Well…! Who is this girl?" Nagisa prodded.

"…I don't know, actually. I never got to see her face. I saw them from behind."

"…oh. Do you at least have a guess who can she be?"

"I can't say it for sure, but she is not among the ones who we know." He said. "She didn't looked like a shinobi to me. I mean, she looked weak, vulnerable..."

"A civilian, perhaps?"

"Maybe, I did saw her in civilian clothing."

There was pause where they both tried to take in the information they just discussed.

"Oh my god… this is huge!"

"Well at least we now know for sure that sempai does not feel that having a girlfriend is a drag."


	10. An Evening Together

**(Belated) Happy Christmas and Happy New Year (in advance) to all!**

 **Disclaimer: Naruto's author is Kishimoto, not me.**

* * *

Shikamaru was pacing back and forth for almost ten minutes.

Taking decisions on a confusing matter is his forte but in this situation he can't seem to get to any conclusions. He even started to doubt his decision of standing at the entrance of that street- Tsukuyo's street.

He glanced in the direction of her apartment which was a few meters away, pondering, if he really should go and knock on her door. He took few steps toward her building remembering how weak she looked the last time he had met her, which was four days ago. But then he stopped and retraced his steps back to where he started. _'…I mean, is it really be okay for me to approach her in her house without prior notice?'_ he continued with his to and fro motion. _'Why not? I mean well. I just wanted to know how she's been doing.'_ And back again. _'No. Approaching her house so abruptly will be wrong.'_

"Shikamaru?"

He turned so swiftly, he almost gave himself a whiplash. Tsukuyo had approached him while he was busy rationalizing his thoughts.

"It really _is_ you." Tsukuyo smiled as she approached him. "I'm surprised to see you here. Are you here to meet someone?"

Shikamaru couldn't think of anything to say. His mind went completely blank. "Kiri, I…well"

"It's Kagiri." She corrected him. Seeing Shikamaru still confused, she elaborated, "Everyone at the academy calls me Kagiri. That's my codename for now."

"Teaching? Is that your new mission?"

"Yeah. My new job is teaching …and I suck at it."

"…But isn't that a chunin level job?"

"Yes. And technically, I _was_ a chunin before ANBU so..."

They stood there, awkwardly, on the street as their small talk ended, not knowing what to say next, to each other.

Shikamaru was processing the information. It only led to more unanswered questions. _'Why would Hokage appoint a more than capable ANBU member for teaching? Is academy under some kind of threat?'_

Tsukuyo was surprised to see Shikamaru on her apartment street out of all places. _'Was he waiting for me?' 'No. that can't be it. I mean, look at his face. Such sharp eyes, creases on his forehead, that uneven pace of walking… probably deep in thinking about some serious matters. He surely must have some important work with… some other person living here. He must be waiting for them, not for me.'_

"Why don't you come inside?" She said out of nowhere. "I mean… my flat is right here and you can… you know…wait there for whoever you are waiting for instead of on the street."

There was a little eagerness in her voice and she noticed it. An eagerness that was born when she thought someone has come to visit her. A thought she had started to entertain that there is still a person who helped her when she was in need. A thought that was too positive for her but she still wanted to believe in it.

 _'_ _Is she thinking I'm waiting for someone else?'_ he wasn't sure how she concluded on that because his every action pointed in a totally opposite direction- he himself approached her at the graveyard, tried to help her get over her grief, dropped her outside her apartment and now waiting exactly on that same spot trying to rationalize his sudden visit to her apartment.

"Okay." At last he answered with only a word.

She led him to her one room flat. It was on the second floor in a standard shinobi apartment, just a bedroom and a kitchen. He took a quick glance at the insides. The flat was nothing fancy, just furnished with bare minimum. He saw some unopened boxes stacked at the corner of the room, but otherwise everything was impeccably clean.

"Sit wherever you want." She called him as she turned towards kitchen to empty her hands with the things she had bought on her way from the academy.

Shikamaru chose to sit on the chair which was paired up with an all-purpose table at a corner.

Tsukuyo entered her room after a minute and took a seat on her bed. He noticed she did not relax even after sitting down, her breath kept going uneven for some reason. It was like she wanted to say something but stops herself just when she opens her mouth.

Yes, she did wanted to say something but wasn't sure how to say it. She wanted to thank him in earnest way possible for what he had done for her, she wanted to thank him for just being there to notice and to guide her through her grief; for his advice and, as she hoped, for being her… friend?

"You seem… well." Shikamaru said finally.

Her restlessness stopped. Her eyes softened on hearing Shikamaru's question/statement.

"I took your advice." She said. "…and I found my closure. I'm trying to not dwell in past and to continue on with my life. And that's… one of the reason why I invited you in. I wanted to thank you. For what you did for me." and gave him a sincere smile.

Shikamaru felt a little tug somewhere in his stomach when he saw how sincere her smile was. It made him forget the weak and vulnerable face that he saw back at the graveyard.

"It's… no big deal. I just showed you a path. But it was up to you to choose to walk on it." He said. "And I'm glad that you did."

Her stomach growled as a reply for his statement. Shikamaru saw her blush furiously as her hand automatically went down to clutch her stomach. Embarrassed, she stood up from her seat and tried to explain herself that only came out of her mouth as gibberish.

 _'_ _Cute.'_

He ignored her gibberish and said as he too, stood up. "Let's go to Ichiraku's. I'm hungry."

She was floored at how considerate he was being. That a mere sentence from him brought a smile to her face. She quickly grabbed her key to her flat and hurried after Shikamaru. She caught up to him at the end of the staircase and spoke softly, "Thank you."

 _'_ _My pleasure.'_ he whispered.

* * *

"Just so you know, I was quite busy with my first day at the academy. That's why I forgot to eat meal." Tsukuyo was slurping her ramen broth as she tried to explain again. It was her second bowl and still she was eating like a hungry lion. Shikamaru was relieved at some level that she was eating well.

He himself was on second helpings but he had a feeling that was it for him. _'I have to make a plausible excuse for not eating at home tonight.'_

"I had some idea that it would not be easy for me but it took me not even a full day to know that the Academy is impossible. No. scratch that." She corrected. " _Children_ are impossible."

"I know. It's bothersome to deal with them." he added.

"Exactly! They are so mischievous. I mean, I can understand some class lectures can get boring but that doesn't give you an excuse to sleep in the class!" She exclaimed. Shikamaru suddenly felt a lot more sympathetic as well as guilty towards her. "If this becomes a regular routine, I don't know how I'm going to perform as a teacher in the future."

"Don't worry. Today was just your first day, and children are not used to your teaching methods. Give it time. Everything will get sort out just fine."

Their attention diverted from their conversation when with a swish, curtains of the shop fluttered and a small child rushed inside, climbing almost at the countertop to place an order.

"Ojii san! One bowl of Miso ramen with extra toppings of minced pork, bamboo shoots, scallions and fish cake here, please." The child said eagerly, bouncing up and down on his heels. "Oh! And also a Tonkotsu bowl with roast pork, minced garlic and two raw eggs".

Another figure appeared a few seconds after, looking thoroughly beat. "…don't run off on your own, Hisoka."

They turned in the direction of the voice to see none other than Chouji entering the shop.

"You are too slow, Chou-ji san! I have waited here so long for you to come but you didn't, so I already placed your order too along with mine!" Hisoka chirped. A sigh escaped Chouji's mouth as he sat on an empty chair.

"You look thoroughly beat. Busy day?" Shikamaru addressed Chouji with a smile.

"Shikamaru!" Chouji exclaimed. "What are you doing here?! I have never seen you eating alone…" his eyes went over Tsukuyo ambiguously.

"Oh, I should introduce you. She's Kagiri. She's a friend of mine. We were just eating and–"

"Kagiri sensei! You are here! Do you like ramen too? Oh, I'm so hungry, I can't even think straight!" Hisoka interrupted and with the same never ending enthusiasm he went back to his bouncing on his heels, drooling and waiting for his food at the same time.

"Oh, so _you_ are Kagiri sensei! Hisoka has been telling about you all this evening. He said you are the coolest teacher he has ever met." Chouji said with a little awe in his voice. "I'm Chouji by the way. I'm Hisoka's uncle. Nice to meet you, Kagiri sensei."

She laughed meekly at Hisoka's depiction of her. "Yeah… if by coolest teacher mean getting reprimanded by Iruka sensei for taking the class outside and playing in the mud, then sure, I am it."

But when she saw that her statement only made them more confused, she added hurriedly, "Anyways, nice to meet you too, Chouji."

By that time, Chouji and Hisoka's ramen came up and they got quite busy finishing it. Tsukuyo and Shikamaru, after finishing their meal, excused themselves to leave. They were barely out of the threshold, when Chouji called Shikamaru. Assuming that they have a private matter to discuss, Tsukuyo continued on with a slower pace.

"Shikamaru…" he said. "I am your best friend so, I expect if anything important happens in your life, you'll inform me, right?"

"Of course." Uncertain as to where this conversation was going, Shikamaru answered.

Chouji nodded as he gave a knowing smile to him and then turned to return back into Ichiraku's. "You remind me of Asuma sensei, you know. You both say the same lines in the same situations."

Shikamaru watched him as he entered back into the shop. It only took him a few seconds to grasp exactly what Chouji was referring to.

That night, when thinking about all that had happened that day, Shikamaru got worried. _'This is not like me at all. Since when did I become such a mother hen?'_

But it bothered him more when he remembered what Chouji had said. _'You both say the same lines in the same situations'._ Shikamaru knew exactly what situations he was referring to. That one time, Ino, Chouji, and he accidentally met with Asuma sensei and Kurenai sensei when they were at the Dango place. When asked 'what were they doing?' Asuma answered with, 'She is a friend.' And 'they are just eating together'. Back then, he didn't knew that they were dating. But now he knew that his sensei's worrying about little things when it came to Kurenai sensei _was,_ in fact, what they called _Love_.

 _'_ _Am I really attracted to her?'_

 _'_ _How does one even behave when somebody likes someone?'_

He remembered how Ino used to worry over Sasuke back at the academy days about his eating habits, his training schedule, if he's feeling lonely or _anything_ remotely related to him. Back then Ino called it 'Love'.

 _'_ _Nah. That can't be it. I'm only worried about her because… it's the right thing to do. Because I'm her friend.'_

* * *

 **More likes and follows! yayy! I'm so happy that you all like my story! Keep reviewing my friends! any suggestions, comments... all are welcome! :D**

 **P.S. the next chapter might get delayed (but i'll try my hardest to prove my self wrong! _)**


	11. The faded memory

Another update!

* * *

Tsukuyo wrapped up another day in the academy without breaking a sweat. She gathered up her belongings from the desk as the last of the students made their way out of the class.

Her life had taken a steady pace ever since she became a teacher in the Academy. The children were becoming a big part of her life. She was loving her teaching job and being called a Sensei. She had finally started enjoying her life again.

She completed the post class works, put it in the staff room and was on her way to her apartment in record fifteen minutes. She wanted to shop for tonight's dinner which was on her to-do-list for a long time. As she was about to leave the building, someone called her from behind. It turned out to be Iruka.

"What is it, Iruka sensei? You called me?" Tsukuyo asked.

"Aah, yes actually." Iruka said. "Itsuki and I were preparing the documents for the examination but I was summoned by the Fifth just now. So… I was thinking if you could help him with the work till I come back for this meeting…"

"Oh." The thought about her plans made her falter. "Umm… no problem."

"It's okay if you got plans!" Iruka said almost instantly, seeing Tsukuyo hesitating for a bit.

"No, No! I'll cover for you!" Blood rushed to her face making her go all red. "You have an important meeting. You should go. I can help Itsuki here."

Tsukuyo was still red with embarrassment long after Iruka was gone.

The work Iruka had asked for was not that heavy. It took Itsuki and her, about an hour and a half to finish it. She left the building soon after, hoping that she could still continue on with her previous plans.

"Hey!" someone called nearby.

 _'_ _Why does God not want me to leave the school compound today?!'_ She mentally yelled before turning towards the caller.

"Kagiri! It's me, Naruto!" Naruto chirped.

She didn't expected it would be him at all. Even though she got somewhat irritated that someone stopped her again, her annoyance melted all, once she saw the famous Naruto grin.

"Of course you are. Who doesn't know you?" She flashed a similar smile. Her eyes fell on Iruka who was walking a little behind him. The sight of him with Naruto made it clear that he was the one who told him about her pseudo name.

"I heard from Sakura chan that you were hospitalized…but you seems fine." Naruto asked in a confused voice as he approached her.

She laughed at his question before answering, "I was. And then I got discharged too, quite a while ago actually." She looked up and down as if examining him. "…but how would you know. You just returned from a mission, right? You look exhausted!"

He laughed sheepishly, "Do I look _that much_ tired to you? Maybe I should try to up my game a little bit…"

"Maybe you just need a good nap. A long mission can tire you up even if it doesn't involve fights." Iruka lectured in a big brotherly way.

"You are right…." Naruto said, drooping both, his shoulders and facial expression in a comical way. "It's probably because I am becoming an _ojisan_."

"You are not even in twenties!" "Are you making fun of my age?" Both Tsukuyo and Iruka snapped at the same time.

Naruto soon left them and went on toward his apartment genuinely wondering why they both snapped at him.

* * *

"You took your time. Itsuki and I had long finished with the documents." She teased as they took the opposite road.

"Aaah… How about I treat you with a ramen bowl as an apology?" Iruka countered her with a smile that somehow looked more deliberate and less apologetic.

She shook her head disapprovingly but chuckled nonetheless. "You sure give a lot of ramen treats, don't you sensei?"

Iruka laughed off her obvious comment. "Okay, first of all, you need to stop calling me sensei. We are in a same job and position…" and spoke over Tsukuyo as she opened her mouth to counter, "Even though you are here for a limited time period."

"Fine. I'll try." Tsukuyo mumbled. "But it's difficult you know. I've been calling you sensei since my academy days. It would feel odd addressing you by your name."

"It'll be alright. Many of my former students do that." He said, smile never leaving his face all this time.

Tsukuyo paused for a second to look at the kind figure beside her, trying to remember the same face from ten years ago. He had not changed at all. He was the same kind teacher from her childhood. A smile crept on her lips as she said, "I am pretty sure you remember all of your students that you have taught till now, right sensei. I mean Iruka." Her brows furrowed at the unfamiliar sound of the name on her tongue.

Iruka laughed at her reaction before answering. "Actually no. And I'm not ashamed to admit it. I'm a human after all." He took a long breath as he took a pause, his eyes flickered, trying to focus somewhere at the horizon. "Studious ones, genius ones, lazy ones, loud ones, naughty ones, hardworking ones… pain in the ass ones" a small chuckle escaped his mouth, "…They are easy to catch teacher's attention." He then turned towards Tsukuyo, "I'm sure you had your students remembered by the adjectives subconsciously in your head too."

Tsukuyo laughed at how relatable it sounded.

"…Can you really believe that the Naruto you just met was once one of the most troublesome student I ever had?" Iruka continued on as they approached the Ichiraku Ramen shop. "…He, Shikamaru and Kiba were the impossible trio. Those three almost made me doubt my teaching skills." He laughed as he reminisced back.

Tsukuyo ears perked up the second Iruka mentioned his name.

"Shikamaru… was a troublesome child?" She started slowly. She didn't wanted Iruka to sense her excitement for wanting to know more about Shikamaru's past. "But he is genius. He is one of the rare people who are naturally talented. How could he possibly…"

"Shikamaru's case was different… interesting actually. He never paid attention in classes, barely completed his written exams enough to get passing marks and always… and when I say always, it means in every subject, every day. Every day he slept in class. It was a mystery how he became a genin." They continued talking as they entered the ramen shop. "It was when he became a _genin_ we finally got to see his talent."

"The chunin exams." Tsukuyo added to his last sentence.

"I'm surprised you remembered, huh…" He commented as he ordered their meals. A slightest of blush decorated Tsukuyo's face on his comment. She indeed remembered the matches of chunin exams. Specially Shikamaru's. Both of his matches were tricky and unpredictable. It was much, much later when she figured out that Shikamaru was the same child she had once got mesmerized by. "…Yes. His matches were quite impressive. We rarely get to see that kind of talent fresh out of Academy."

"Here's your Order."

Two big steaming bowls of ramen were placed in front of them which they started eating without further ado.

* * *

 _"_ _Aneue… where are we going?!"_

 _"_ _Shh… trust me, won't you?"_

 _"_ _Ugh… Aneue!" A small girl whined as another girl, about two years older than her, walked in front of her, pulling the other by her hand. They both were dressed up in a pretty pink kimono, walking as fast as they could, without leaving the elegant form that the traditional attire allowed. The only thing out of place in the whole scenario was the blindfold over the eyes of the small girl._

 _"_ _Are. We. There. Yet?"_

 _"_ _Don't you have something called patience in you? I have waited far longer than you to give you this surprise. So if you'll nicely wait till we get to our destination, it would be great." The older sister snapped._

 _The small girl pouted as she was continued being pulled by her sister. She did not had any clue where they were going but her senses were working in full force. She felt the cool breeze on her face as they walked past a pond, listened to the slight rustling of leaves coming from the other side and the crunching of the gravels beneath her feet. It took her less than a minute to infer that they had already left their family's compound. After a few minutes of walking, she felt their pace was slowing down. Taking this as a good sign, she was about to repeat her favourite question of the day but stopped when she heard a new voice._

 _"_ _You shouldn't play 'Blindfold' here in this uneven ground or you could get hurt."_

 _'_ _A kid's voice? Are we near the playground?' The blindfolded girl mused._

 _She could almost feel the snarky comment that was about to come out of her sister's mouth. "Hah, I don't think even novices can get hurt in this terrain." She knew her sister did not like being disturbed when she was on her way to do something exciting. And if she did not interrupt their conversation, the kid could end up in tears- that's how much mean she could be…sometimes._

 _"_ _But my mother says…"_

 _"_ _Don't worry. We know what we are doing." The small girl interrupted before her sister could get a chance to retort back to the kid._

 _"_ _It's okay, Chouji. They both are Academy students. They won't get hurt so easily." Another voice joined the conversation._

 _The first kid took a moment before answering as if speculating the information he was provided with. "But how can you be so sure?"_

 _She heard a pair of steps coming a bit closer to them. "Their stance, their soft steps, and the older one's confidence." He said with an ease. "Come on, let's go. Let them do their… whatever they are doing." And she heard them walking away._

 _It intrigued the small girl that how easily he noticed the traits. He can't be any ordinary kid. Her hand automatically went up to the blindfolds as she slid the fabric to get a peak of the boy._

 _She was right. He was a small kid, five or six years old, with a little ponytail on his head. She didn't knew the kid but recognized the clan crest on his clothes. The Nara clan._

Tsukuyo's eyes flew open. She was in her room, lying on her bed, in the middle of the night.

 _'_ _What was that?'_ She asked the question in her head. _'A Dream? No. A Memory? …Yes.'_

It was one of the memory that she had quite forgotten with the time. But now, of all the time, it came back to her. She tried hard to replay the memory that she had just seen.

 _'_ _It was the Clan Function…we sneaked out….my sister's Surprise…the– the kids? There were kids?'_ She was racking her brain hard to not forget what she saw just now. It was just the voices to her. She replayed the happy, elated feeling of excitement she was experiencing moments ago.

And then it came, for mere few seconds-

 _It was…it was him!_ Her heart skipped a beat when she realized who he was.

* * *

Sorry for the late update. I was busy with my best friend's wedding!


	12. Nearmisses

I don't own Naruto.

* * *

Tsukuyo yawned very unladylike as she made her way to the Academy as usual. It gained her quite a few looks on the street but it didn't mattered to her. She hardly had any sleep last night after her dream/memory.

The fact that she had met Shikamaru when they were young excited her. The little connection that she felt she had with him via this mere memory brought a wide grin on her face. She had replayed the memory in her head numerous times already since the starting of the day. She ambled down the street in her own bliss when something grasped her attention.

"…quite busy these days. I came down for a smoke actually."

Tsukuyo stopped on her tracks abruptly as a few distant words made it to her ears.

 _'_ _Seriously… am I now imagining things or the voice I just heard was really Shikamaru's?'_ She turned on her spot a few times to locate the familiar face, confused.

Her eyes had not stopped searching for him. So do her legs. She backtracked her steps till the mouth of the smaller street she just came out of.

The street was an ordinary shopping street most of which were closed except for a few Bars and a Tobacco Joint. It was almost empty except for two to three civilians.

 _'…_ _Maybe I am thinking way too much about him.'_ Tsukuyo concluded as she decided to give up on the search.

* * *

She still wasn't quenched with the thought of her being hallucinating any voices.

 _'_ _Had I searched a bit longer, I would have found him. I'm certain he was there!'_

The longer she thought about the topic, more she yearned to see him.

 _'_ _That's it!'_ She slammed her hand hard on the table, making the class sit bolt upright due to its suddenness. _'After the classes, I'll go and meet him.'_ her hand made into a fist, reflecting her firm decision.

 _'_ _...but you don't even know where he would be.'_ Her logic questioned her decision.

 _'_ _He–'_ her firm decision faltered. _'…could be at the training ground–'_

 _'_ _Who in the world trains in the afternoon these days? Not him of course! Maybe a person with a burning youth spirit– but definitely not him!'_

 _'_ _With Hokage…maybe? Working on some state affairs…'_

 _'…_ _or resting? Taking a day off, meeting with… friends or… perhaps…girlfriend?'_ the logic teased.

A sudden sinking feeling hit her straight in the pit of her stomach.

 _'_ _No!'_

 _'…'_

 _'_ _I mean…umm… I remember from today morning, he said something about being busy these days.'_

 _'_ _You are basing this on what, today's hunch that you somehow 'heard' him, soft enough to even confuse it with a hallucination?'_

 _'_ _I was… confused then but now I'm totally sure that it was really him.'_

 _'…_ _But even that's that, I can't believe how unreasonable you're sounding. You said you heard he is busy and now you are planning to go to him and disturb him?'_

 _'_ _It will just be "Hello –How are you? –Goodbye" meeting. It will hardly take ten minutes. I just want to meet him. It's been way too long –Six days seven nights…'_

 _'…_ _Now I know what case this is. Fine, go. You won't listen to logic anyway…'_

* * *

Tsukuyo was thinking hard trying to come up with an acceptable excuse for a sudden visit to Hokage office. She was already inside the building, climbing up the staircase and had thought up nothing till now. She had scanned through the training areas and the meat Joint in her search for Shikamaru. The hokage office was the last remaining place she could think of for the probable place where he could be.

Her eyes automatically went up when she heard a low rumbling thunder. _'It's gonna rain…'_ She thought.

"Kagiri?"

She saw Kotetsu approaching her when she turned at the sound of her pseudo name. She smiled and nodded to acknowledge him.

"Fancy seeing you here! Here to meet someone?" he asked.

"Yeah, Tsunade san." She lied effortlessly.

"Oh, great. I'm heading there too." He gestured towards the files he was carrying, "I have to deliver these to her."

"Great…" she mumbled. _'Now I have to meet her for sure. This way I won't be able to find him here…'_

They walked silently towards the Hokage office. Kotetsu, in order to subside the silence, initiated the talk. "So…are you meeting the Fifth for work related stuff?"

"No, no. It's casual. Haven't met her in a while." She answered.

The silence, again begun to descend between them. This time, Tsukuyo thought she was obliged to start a conversation too. "…I can't see Izumo san with you?"

"Aah… he was behind me." He turned his head automatically at her mentioning. "….maybe got stuck at something." His answer started to convert into rambling. "…perhaps got hold back…wonder if he finds the right documents…rather not disturb Nara…looked quite exhausted…"

God was helping her, was her first thought.

"He was right behind you?"

He nodded absentmindedly instead of a reply.

"Which way is it?"

"Lower floor, left side. Maybe I should…"

"– I'll go and see if he needs something and send him to you at once." Tsukuyo said almost instantly. She turned on her spot and headed downstairs without waiting for his reply. "You go ahead!" she almost yelled.

* * *

Tsukuyo was back on the street, dejected at her small quest. Before, at the Hokage's building, she found Izumo in an empty office, Shikamaru had left the building moments ago due to some work.

 _'_ _Maybe today's not the day…'_ She wondered. She looked up at the sky. It had grew dark as if it could rain at any moment. _'He could be anywhere now…'_

She looked at her surroundings with a heavy sigh. The pitter patter of the rain had nearly started. Most of the civilians had already gone inside to take shelter from the coming rain except for one frantic guy with square glasses, running in a hurry, most likely to escape the rain.

Her eyes returned back to her front. _Screw the rain_. She was in no mood to quicken her pace.

* * *

It was a mundane week for Shikamaru. He had been sorting the papers for the monthly meeting of the five countries' kage representatives for the past five days. He considered those papers to be dull and just for the sake of courtesy. But it still needed to be done and that was what kept him going to complete his work by the end of the week.

He scanned through the document for the last time as he put the other four on the table with a swish. Few seconds later the last document joined the stack of paper with a similar motion. An audible sigh left Shikamaru's mouth as he stretched his arm above his head. His chair squeaked a little when he leaned backward with his hands resting at the back of his head.

A low rumbling of thunder reached his ears. Weather was doing quite a good job at imitating his mood- dull and bleary. He hardly restrained a yawn that came with it.

He reached for a fresh pack of cigarette from his bottom drawer, tapped gently at the top of the packet to extract a single roll. He lit it in no hurry whatsoever.

"…that was a long week of paperwork." He murmured to himself, exhaling a puff of smoke. "It's a good thing that I managed to complete it before the start of the meeting."

A smallest of frown crept up on his face as he remembered his last conversation with Shizune. She was the one who transferred the completion of document responsibility on him saying that she had to head a research team on something important.

He was not complaining though. He knew he had come a long way from his complaining younger self. He long had accepted the meaning of being adult, importance of his work, and what was beneficial for the village. It was his way of paying tribute to his father and his teacher.

He very well knew how busy an important research can get when it involves Shizune, acting directly under Hokage's orders, so he decided to deliver the news of completion with the documents personally to her office or the research lab (wherever he found her first).

He found her in the research lab.

"Shizune san, someone is here to see you." One of her subordinates informed her.

Shizune, whose nose was buried into a big, almost tattered old leather bound book, lifted her head and gave him a quizzical look. The sheer intensity of her gaze left him flushed.

"Umm… Shikamaru san is here to see you." He replied almost instantly, avoiding her gaze by adjusting his square shaped glasses. As his words finally got registered in her mind, she nimbly gestured to bring him inside.

She saw Shikamaru amble over to her desk as she marked her current page. Her focus shifted on the folder he was carrying. It made her eyes look more exhausted than she already was.

"Aaaah! The documents… you finished it already, didn't you?" She huffed exasperatedly.

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at her reaction. He didn't expected her to be that disappointed or frustrated, to be exact, on hearing the news.

"…Yeah. And it took me a full five days to finish it." He said as he forwarded the folder softly on her table. "Are you not happy about it?" he added teasingly.

"Of course I am happy. Greatly relieved in fact, that you took half the workload off my shoulder. It's just that your completion of the work reminded me of this dreaded meeting that I have to attend to." Shizune said as her fingers combed through her hair in frustration. She was in the middle of her research. The research which will finally shed some light on the bizarre chakra behavior that was found infecting Kiri's system. Even if the research was the Hokage's order, as a doctor she herself was totally invested into this case and was aching to unveil it.

She paused and looked directly at him across the table. It clicked to her like a light bulb- the solution to her problem.

"You attend the meeting."

 _'_ _What?'_

Shikamaru stared at her for the longest time. He must have heard her incorrectly. There was not a single sound between them except for the slight buzzing noise coming from the adjacent laboratory.

 _'_ _Is she serious?'_

He was waiting for her to suddenly crack up and say that she was joking.

But she did not.

"You are serious." He finally stated when he saw no sign of her contradicting her declaration.

"Of course I am."

There was a pause. Again.

"You do know the weightage of your statement, right?" Shikamaru said. His relaxed posture had straightened somewhere in the middle of their conversation. "You are making me attend this important meeting on your behalf."

Shizune stood up from the work bench and crossed the desk to face him directly. "You will be the perfect person for this job. You are already the face of our village when it involves business with Daimyo. This meeting is very similar to that, minus the arrogant Daimyos."

She once again looked straight into his eyes. "Handling complicated situations is one of your forte. If it's not me, it has to be you."

 _'_ _This is troublesome. Seriously.'_ He sighed audibly. On some level, he had the inkling that things could turn out this way. He had no choice now.

"How much of the work is left with your research?" He asked instead.

The small twinkle that got lit when she saw his resigned, accepted face, got wiped off almost instantly. "Not much. We are stuck midway." She turned to tap onto the big, old book that she was reading prior to his entrance. "That's why I have been researching it continuously for almost a week."

Shikamaru could see the dark bags under her eyes. She was indeed exhausted from this research. Probably spending nights too judging by the books stacked on her desk and the nearby floor. His eyes then fell upon the title of the book that she bookmarked before the start of their conversation. _'Forbidden chakra and infecting kekkei genkai'_.

"…It's making it difficult to dig further into the topic since we are not sure if it's a disease infecting the body chakra or if it's a rare kekkei genkai."

"Rare kekkei genkai?"

"We are still investigating it." Shizune added. "If we could just get our hands on some more information…"

The assistant from before appeared once again in front of them. He softly knocked on the door to make known of his presence before addressing. "Shizune san, the samples from the centrifuge tubes are out. You should take a look at the results."

The new progress in the research halted their conversation. Shikamaru excused himself to leave first as Shizune too headed for the adjacent laboratory.

At the door, Shikamaru however, paused for a few second and addressed her one more time. "Well, I don't know if it would be of any help but why don't you start from a different perspective. Go to the source of the problem and start digging from there. Maybe then you'll get the information that you are lacking now."

* * *

 _'_ _Swapping place with Shizune for a meeting…huh… I need to inform the Fifth about this.'_ Shikamaru continued down the path leading to his house as he mentally added the thing to his To-do list.

The anticipated rain felt refreshing on his already exhausted skin. He stood still to take in the soft thrumming made by the droplets of water. It felt like a lullaby.

 _'_ _A cup of tea would be great in this weather.'_ He wondered with a deep sigh. And with that thought, he continued again towards his home.

Not long after, he found himself to be the only one walking on the street in the rain except for one other person.

* * *

Tsukuyo stopped when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She was so engrossed by her thoughts that she didn't even realized the presence of another person and that someone had sneaked up on her.

She turned on her spot as she felt the person's hand retracting.

In that one millisecond of recognizing the face of the very person she longed to see, her face lit up like a firework in the night sky.

"You are drenched." Shikamaru stated. His face showcased a warm smile despite of the weather.

"So are you." She retorted.

From a third person perspective, they looked like a strange pair, halfway in a street, in the middle of the rain, laughing, without a care of the world.

* * *

The last few words of Shikamaru left Shizune stunned for a moment. It hit her like a bus that the most basic thing to start an investigation, she hadn't contemplated till now.

 _'_ _I need to question Kiri. I need to know exactly what or whose demented chakra she came in contact with during her mission that had affected her so gruesomely.'_

* * *

I really appreciate those who read my story and points out my grammatical mistakes. It really help me in improving my English. Thank you JUSTSAYIN


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